BLOGGING WITH BEVERLEY: Heroines with Min Edwards

This week we’re going to find out a little about author Min Edwards. May’s theme is ‘Heroines’ so Min will be talking about heroines. She’ll also tell us a little about herself and her writing, and answer some fun questions.

Min wears many hats... author, book designer, archaeologist, and citizen of the edge of America... Lubec, Maine, the most eastern town in the U.S. She’s a life-long reader, but I doesn't chain herself to only one genre. She loves, almost equally, romance, suspense, thrillers, sci-fi. And if a book takes her someplace she’s never been with a story that makes her heart beat with excitement, then she considers that an excellent book. She strives for the same excellence in my own stories.
Her first novel, STONE BAY, a Contemporary Romance, was published in March of 2014. It was followed by a new Romantic Suspense series, Hide Tide Suspense, bringing danger to the small village of Stone Bay, Maine. Out now in the series are STONE COLD, STONE HEART, STONE FALL and PRECIOUS STONE. Finally, for the conclusion of the series, THE RUSSIAN PHOENIX, a women’s fiction historical and the prequel to PRECIOUS STONE is coming soon. These books can be found on my Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2bHJ1kb

Beverley: What do you think makes a heroine, either in real life or in books?

Min: Overcoming the odds, staying true to herself through whatever life throws at her.
Beverley: Is it important to have strong conflicts? If yes, inner or outer conflicts, or both?
Min: Yes, and I think both.
Beverley: Who are your favorite heroines, and why?
Min: Nancy Drew because she was so spunky. Claire from Outlander because she was ready at the drop of a hat for adventure. Philip Donlay’s heroine, Dr. Lauren McKenna, in his Donovan Nash thrillers because she loves her husband but doesn’t always like him or agree with him, and ultimately, she manages to nudge him toward a solution which provides a chance for them to make it out alive.
Beverley: Tell me about the heroines in your book/s.
Min: They are all strong women who love their men but don’t rely on them to save the day or themselves. This is something I look for in other authors’ writing as well. I’ve read too many novels where the heroine waits on the hero to solve her problems, but I think in today’s world of equality a woman should look inward to her own heart and strength. It’s only fair. But of course, we haven’t fully reached the ‘equality’ stage yet, but we can always hope to reach it someday.
Beverley: How do you develop the characteristics for your heroine?
Min: I start out with just one bit of worry or menace then slowly increase the danger bit-by-bit until my heroine must put her own life on the line if she wants to survive. Overcoming odds pushes my heroines to realize that they are strong and that they can protect their loved ones... but that hunky hero certainly does make the ‘clean-up of the bad guys’ easier. Hey, we women aren’t stupid. We’ll take a helping hand if it’s offered, but not forced upon us. And that’s another thing I insert in my plots: the heroes are desperate to protect their women to the point where their Alpha-ness begins to overwhelm. Well, my heroines don’t take that sitting down. They are maidens on a mission.
Beverley: How long have you been writing?
Min: In some form, academic or fiction, all my life, but publishing novels, since 2014. I have 5 fiction books self-published now with three more scheduled for release this summer
Beverley: What genre do you write in and why?
Min: Initially I wrote in Romance and Romantic Suspense, but my newest novels delve into Action/Adventure. They are archaeological thrillers that I’m co-writing with a former colleague and friend. Both of us are retired archaeologists. But I write what I love to read. I’m starting to steer away from Romance for a bit because lately I find myself enjoying thrillers by authors such as Philip Donlay, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs, and others.
Beverley: Who influenced you the most in deciding to become a writer?
Min: Author Julie Ortolon. When I owned an independent bookstore, A Thirsty Mind Words & Wines, she used to come in often to talk about her books and her publishers. She also taught a short class at my bookstore on writing and of course, I participated.
And my mother, who fostered my love of reading. She gave me her well-read 1939 edition of Gone With The Wind when I was around ten years old. Since then I’ve read it so many times that it needs to be rebound. I know my mom would be so proud of me now and I dedicate each of my books to her. I also took my pen name from her, Min Edwards.
Beverley: What obstacles did you have to overcome to begin creating your work?
Min: Just setting time aside each day to write was the biggest challenge. Learning the craft of writing a novel was time consuming, as well.
Beverley: What gets your creative juices flowing?
Min: They flow all the time, but dreams I guess. I have very vivid dreams, ones I can often remember when I wake. And I used to plot story-lines when I was commuting to a job in downtown Austin, Texas. I know, that was probably dangerous, but at the time I was traveling on a seldom-used ranch road... in a VW bug. Anyway, I wish I had had a voice activated recorder because I remember some of those ‘stories’ were good... and the dialogue... well, I just wish I had some of those words and phrases today.
Beverley: What will stop your creative muse the quickest?
Min: Dreary weather and wind storms. I’ve been in several tornados and hurricanes... up close and personal. I imagine I have a bit of PTSD. But strangely enough I’m in love with the study of weather and try to incorporate some kind of storm in each of my books.
Beverley: What do you have for breakfast?
Min: Coffee... and more coffee. And oatmeal. I live in Maine and hot cereal seems to be the only way to warm up some mornings. Also, just recently I re-discovered Larabars... those fruit and nut health bars. Of course, I can’t get them in the wilds of coastal Maine so I order them online. I’m addicted to the Cappuccino bars.
Beverley: What do you wear when you are writing?
Min: Jeans and ten-year-old sweatshirts. I love those sweatshirts so much, big and relaxed fit. Now, I can’t find them even on-line. So, I’m taking one that I can’t wear anymore (the material is so worn that you can actually see light through it) and having a seamstress copy it for me.
Beverley: Where do you do most of your writing?
Min: My computer is set-up on a small mid-century tea cart nestled in a window in the kitchen of my almost 200-year-old farmhouse. I also have an office next to my bedroom on the second floor, but in the winter it’s too cold up there. And since the winters goes on, and on, and on up here in Maine, I seem to stay in the kitchen for the most part.
Beverley: Do you have a favorite cartoon character? Why?
Min: Well, I like The Roadrunner. I love his crafty mind. But I don’t think I’ve seen a cartoon in decades... although I do love the occasional Disney animated movies... a secret pleasure.
Beverley: Who would you love most to meet 'in person' and why?
Min: Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I’d love to talk with him about the universe or universes. He seems so approachable. Before I wanted to be an archaeologist, I wanted to be an astrophysicist. Of course, that was in the era when women went to college to get a husband and majored in childhood education or home economics. What do they call home economics these days?
Beverley: If you had an unexpected free day what would you do with it?
Min: Read
Beverley: What are you working on now?
Min: My first women’s fiction historical, The Russian Phoenix. It begins in 1913 during the Romanov Jubilee Celebration, 300 years of Romanov rule. The story ends in the 1980s. The research is killing me, but Russia during that time was fascinating. It’s nothing like the research I did when I was an archaeologist. This is more like Trivial Pursuit... adding color and interest, only picking bits and pieces out of the fabric of history.

Blurb for The Russian Phoenix (The Russian Phoenix is the prequel to Precious Stone)
Russia: 1913. A time of celebration; a time of turmoil.
Natasha, a young cousin of Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova, the Empress Consort of all the Russias, is eighteen and living a life she never dreamed. The year is 1913; the 300th Jubilee Year of the Romanov rule and it has been filled with fetes, balls, and excitement. But the night of the last ball of the season a burgeoning love affair goes horribly wrong and she's kidnapped and whisked out of Russia. Her adventures change her life in ways she could never imagine and take her far from home. But her travails forge her into a strong, resourceful woman of the new century.

Buy Links for The Russian Phoenix:

Visit my Amazon Author Page to find out when it will be available:

http://amzn.to/2bHJ1kb