On Genres with Mary Martinez

This week we’re going to find out a little about author Mary Martinez. January ‘s theme is ‘Genres’ so David will be talking about genres. She’ll also tell us a little about herself and hers writing, and answer some fun questions.

Mary lives in Magna, a little town west of Salt Lake City, Utah. Together with her husband, she has six grown children, and six wonderful grandsons and five beautiful granddaughters. She loves to spend time with family and friends--she includes good books as friends!

Mary and her husband love to travel, especially to the Caribbean for relaxing, and Italy for the wine. And most recently she discovered she was Irish and Scottish, of course they had to visit Ireland and Scotland. Mary fell in love with both, but the green hills of Ireland felt like home.  With the experience from the exotic places she has visited, she is able to fill her books with colorful descriptions of cities, painting a colorful backdrop for her characters. One of her favorite US destinations is New York/Brooklyn, where her beloved Beckett's live. When she visits, she can wander their neighborhoods, favorite parks, and visit their favorite pub, Putnum's. http://putnamspub.com/

They are avid concert ‘Ho’s’! Yes, they pretty much want to do them all. They love outdoor amphitheaters the best and attend as many during the warmer months as possible.

Mary writes mostly romantic suspense, romance, women's fiction, and she has just begun to dabble in young adult mystery. She is a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA). During her writing career she has been a conference coordinator, workshop presenter, and chapter president for the Utah Chapter of RWA. In 2007 she was presented with the Utah RWA service award in acknowledgment and appreciation for outstanding service. Mary has also participated in numerous library panels on writing and co-presented a workshop on writing a series at the League of Utah Writers conference.

Mary and her husband are also enthusiastic college football fans. They have season tickets to the UTES, University of Utah Football and they tailgate every game. They love tailgating so much, that they were married at a tailgating in 1999.
GO UTES!

Beverley: Which genre or genres do you write or prefer to write?
Mary: I like to write Romantic Suspense. However, I have done Romance, Women’s fiction, and most recently Middle Grade with my three oldest grandsons.
Beverley: What prompted you to write in the genre/s you do?
Mary: I love to read romantic suspense and romance. The other two genre’s just sort of happened.
Beverley: What genres do you enjoy reading?
Mary: I like what I write. And that would be the only thing I would say a few years ago, but since I’ve been in a book club that has changed. Now my tastes in books have grown more diverse. I’ve read books that I would have never picked up on my own. We just finished reading Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly. It’s about the concentration camps during the Nazi occupation and World War II. I loved the book, I think it was one of our clubs favorites.
Beverley: How long have you been writing?
Mary: I have been writing for as long as I can remember. Seriously writing? Since around 2000.
Beverley: Who influenced you the most in deciding to become a writer?
Mary: No one. I’ve always had stories in my head. And the tales I’d make up to tell my mother when I knew I was going to be in trouble for something, were whoppers. Sometimes they worked and most the time she saw through me.
Beverley: What obstacles did you have to overcome to begin creating your work?
Mary: First and foremost that I could actually do so. I wrote little stories growing up that were garbage. When I finally decided to write a book, the kids were older and I told myself it’s now or never. I guess the actual answer to your question is; I had to overcome myself and self-doubts.
Beverley: What gets your creative juices flowing?
Mary: You never know. It could be something I see that triggers an idea or it could be something I hear. I came up with the story idea for Watching Jenny when I was driving to work for my day job. The radio was blaring, as usual, and Alanis Morissette came on and I thought; “What would happen if a rock star had a stalker, and not one of the usual ones.” And it grew from here. I also listen to music—loud—when I write. While writing that story I listened to mostly Alanis and No Doubt/Gwen Stefani.
Beverley: What will stop your creative muse the quickest?
Mary: Interruptions. And Work. I have friends who can write at work when they have nothing to do. Not me, if I’m at work I can’t get a germ of anything creative. I have tried to go to a coffee shop at lunch and write. It works better for editing because when I’m writing, I just get on a roll and have to quit.
Beverley: What do you have for breakfast?
Mary: Weekdays, coffee and a fiber bar. Weekends usually eggs, bacon or sausage, and toast. Oh, and coffee.
Beverley: What do you wear when you are writing?
Mary: Usually jeans and a sweatshirt, unless it’s summer then a Tee.
Beverley: Where do you do most of your writing?
Mary: When I’m at home, my office. But every other month I meet my Critique partner for a writing day at Barnes and Noble. And once a year we do a weekend retreat and just write.
Beverley: Who would you love most to meet 'in person' and why?
Mary: Stephen King and Quentin Tarantino. Because I have them on my bucket list, I would love to write a screen play with the two of them. I know it would never happen, but how fun would that be?
Beverley: If you had an unexpected free day what would you do with it?
Mary: I usually try to write, but if the house is dirty I have to clean first. I can’t write in a dirty house.
Beverley: What are you working on now?
Mary: I just finished Profit Book V of The Beckett Series. I’m in the editing process.
Beverley: If you could be anything other than a human, what would you be and why?
Mary: I would be an Alien on another planet filled with beautiful gardens. I would want it to look like Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand or Kauai, so really green.
Beverley: Imagine your fairy godmother were to wave her magic wand and bestow a million dollars upon your bank account.  What would you do with the money and why?
Mary: I would set up accounts for my grandkids for college. I’d pay off my house and then figure out how much it would cost to live the rest of my life and set up a bank account that would pay me a salary each month and I’d write and live normal. Left over money would be split between my kids. And I would include money for travel. I have had this planned for a long time in the event that I win the lottery.
Beverley: What books have you had published? And tell us a little bit about them, please.    
Mary: I have a couple of novella’s, but here are my full-length novels.
Watching Jenny Known as Blade with wild pink hair, tattoos and piercings, Jenny McGregor works to keep her life private. But her self-constructed barriers are breached after she receives flowers and threatening notes signed by ‘Runner’.
Classic Murder: Mr. Romance Adam enjoys a lifestyle most men only dream of. Then one day he wakes up to find the morning headlines blaring, "Another victim falls prey to Mr. Romance. Who is next?" He suddenly realizes his way of life is not only frivolous, but deadly.
Chick Magnet When Madison and Brady meet, oranges roll. Thanks to Payton, Brady's nephew. The first eye contact over the fruit table causes the air to sizzle. No matter how much Madison resists the attraction, the two are destined for each other.
Romance and Misconceptions What happens when one small misconception changes the lives of six people? Oops, I mean seven; I keep forgetting little Abbie gets a dad.
Three Brides and a Dress Bella is a wedding dress. She has three adventures. The story is mostly in Bella’s point of view.
Four Sisters The early sixties was a time of making love, not war. Kathleen finds love and starts a war with her family.
The Beckett Series
Disappear After two years undercover as an FBI agent to infiltrate a crime organization and discover the identity of a hit man, Tyler Beckett’s cover is blown. Tyler’s new assignment is to protect the only witness who can identify the mysterious killer. If only he didn’t find her so attractive. Each day it becomes harder to keep his objective, especially since he knows the interest is mutual.
Innocent All Jessica wants is a home and a family. So how did she suddenly find herself falsely accused of a felony and then kidnapped by a hit man?
Quiet Christine Beckett’s dream of partnership in a prestigious New York City law firm has finally come to fruition. She has financial security, a loving family, and owns her home, why does she need a man?
Illusion Special Agent Reagan Beckett left Brooklyn for San Francisco ten years ago—and on bad terms with her family. When the World Banking Association (WBA), one of the biggest worldwide financial institutions, is targeted by domestic terrorists, Reagan is called to join the team with two others in New York City. Now she would be home for an extended visit.

Coming soon:

Profit Matt Beckett is the Chief Financial officer for Development International Group (DIG), a company that provides interest free loans to the poorest countries. Matt’s easy going lifestyle is threatened by an agency trying to take over the World Banking Association (WBA), the parent company of DIG. He doesn’t have any desire to be involved in cloak and dagger stuff, he’ll leave that to the other law enforcement Beckett’s.
Abandoned Glenna Beckett loves her family dearly, but being the youngest of six can be overwhelming. Moving across country helped her learn who she was outside the family. She’s built a successful business in the form of a quaint shop on Main Street of Calistoga, that sells a bit of everything vintage, the new age term for antique. What more does she need?
History Mysteries – Written with my three grandsons.
Zeke Adams has mixed feelings about visiting his nana for the summer. On the one hand, he’ll get to see her and his two younger cousins, Nick and Bart, but then they’ll be stuck all summer in the small coastal town of Cliffdale, California—a place they all believe will be boring. But it turns out, it's anything but boring.
Beverley: What is your philosophy of writing?
Mary: Do the best you can. Forgive yourself if you can’t keep to your writing schedule because of life and work.
Beverley: Finally, name the one thing in life you do not at this moment possess, but wish to have with all your heart. How would you go about making your wish come true?
Mary: I found my birth Father’s obit and found I had two sisters and a brother. I have met the oldest sister, she’s only three years younger than I am. We get along wonderful. However, the other two do not want to meet me. I am hoping that over time they will see that my sister enjoys my company that they’ll change their mind.

Blurb for Three Brides and a Dress

Hi, my name is Bella and I'm one of Heidi by Design signature creations. I'm a wedding dress. Someday I'll find a young bride with stars in her eyes and dreams of a future with her groom. I can imagine it now. The groom standing at the altar waiting, his gaze fixed to the door where his bride will appear and then walk toward him. I'll hug her curves and she'll shimmer and shine with the promise of what their life will be.

It all sounds simple and easy, doesn't it?

Wrong...

My journey is more of a zig zag than a top stitch along a straight seam as I search for the perfect bride who is my soul mate.

Buy Links:

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DUK9R5G?

Print only:
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/three-brides-and-a-dress-mary-martinez/1116048892?ean=9781490966168
Books A Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Three-Brides-Dress/Mary-Martinez/9781490966168?id=6218957261198
IndieBound http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781490966168

You can find Mary at:

Video Bio Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISsOcM0kyzY

Web site: http://www.marymartinez.com/
Mary’s Garden Blog: http://marysbooksblogger.blogspot.com/
The After Work Cook Blog: http://theafterworkcook.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marylmartinez
Faceboook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Author-Mary-Martinez-1375378959454858/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/marylmartinez3/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTww3B2ofa11UPFrSe0WGAg
Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/102169317869219350490/102169317869219350490

Don’t forget to check back next week for another author interview and discussion of genres.