Make-Believe Mondays With Meg Benjamin

Today on Make-Believe Mondays my guest it Meg Benjamin.

Meg, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Meg: Well, Wedding Bell Blues is being released by Samhain Publishing on July 21. It’s the story of a disastrous wedding—the hero and heroine are the best man and maid of honor who are trying to keep the whole thing from imploding. Here’s the blurb: Janie Dupree will do anything to make sure her best friend has the wedding of her dreams, even if it means relinquishing what every bridesmaid covets and never gets—the perfect maid-of-honor dress. Problem is, family drama as tangled as a clump of Texas prickly pear cactus threatens to send the skittish bride hopping aboard the elopement express.

Janie could use a hand, but the best man’s “help” is only making things worse.

Pete Toleffson just wants to get through his brother’s wedding and get back to his county attorney job in Des Moines. He never expected to be the engineer on a wedding train that’s derailing straight toward hell. Janie’s the kind of girl he’d like to get close to—but her self-induced role as “Miss Fix-It” is as infuriating as it is adorable.

If they can just fend off meddling parents, vindictive in-laws, spiteful ex-boyfriends, and a greyhound named Olive long enough to achieve matrimonial lift-off, maybe they can admit they’re head-over-heels in love.

Debra: Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Meg: Oh yeah. In fact, hearing the characters’ voices is really important to me. After I’ve worked on a story for a while, I can begin to tell myself, “No, so-and-so wouldn’t say that.” Which means I have to sit down and think about just what she/he would say under those conditions—hearing their voices, in other words. Seeing them is harder. I sometimes begin a book by finding pictures that look like my people. I don’t create collages, like some of my friends, but I do collect pictures to look at, at least initially. I also sometimes have actors in mind, but that can be tricky because I sometimes end up thinking of characters those actors have played who may be very far from the characters I’m trying to create.

Debra: Usually I see my story people before I hear them, so we're opposites on that. But I've tried using photos too.

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Meg: I was one of those kids who loved folk tales and fairy tales. My mom read me Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, and the Arabian Nights. I also loved the Alice books and Oz. And when I got older I read most of the Narnia books, too. I also loved an obscure bunch of books by an author named Edward Eager called Half Magic, about a family of children who found a magic coin that could grant wishes, but only half of what they wished for. They spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to wish for twice what they really need and then end up with weird results (duh!).

Debra: All wonderful tales. I'd love to read Half Magic. Maybe there are still copies floating about.

Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

I think it’s important to remember that creating ordinary, “realistic” worlds also requires imagination. Being creative isn’t limited to imagining alternative worlds—imagining the everyday world takes creativity as well. After all, we’re not really dealing with “reality” here; it’s what I think of as “reality 2.0”. We’re not actually dealing with what people “really” do or think or say; rather, we’re dealing with what they do or think or say in this neat little microcosm we’ve created for them. It’s not real life—it’s life reimagined.

Debra: So very true. Life reimagined.



www.megbenjamin.com

megbenjamin.wordpress.com

Debra: Meg, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

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Debra's News/Debra is watching:

Thursday is my new favorite day of the week because my new schedule is to go to the library and write on Thursdays from 9 to 5. This is a time when I do not answer emails or phone calls (even with the iphone) And the writing is going very well.

www.debraparmley.com

Make-Believe Mondays With Dana Marie Bell

Today on Make-Believe Mondays my guest is Dana Marie Bell.

Dana Marie, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Dana Marie: I’m currently working on two different manuscripts, a holiday story entitled Sing We Noelle and the first of the Pennsylvania Shifters, Bear Necessities. I’m hoping to have Sing done by the end of July. It’s based in the world of The Gray Court, the world of Dare to Believe. Bear Necessities will be the first full-length shifter book set in the world of the Halle Pumas, and will be the beginning of a more multi-shifter world involving foxes, bears, wolves, coyotes, etc. I’m looking forward to getting back to my shifters!

Debra: What fun! Foxes and bear and wolves, oh my! (Couldn't resist that one.)

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Dana Marie: I’ve dreamed entire books! I had a sci-fi dream that I’ve written down, and it’s turned into the outline for a book I’m tentatively calling Stern Negotiations. I actually dreamed it from beginning to end. When I let my husband read it he got all excited and started talking about how I could work the science, which let me know I had a good idea on my hands.

Debra: Oh that is excellent, especially that you were able to capture it all on paper. Dreams can slip away so easily.

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Dana Marie: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia were favorites of mine. Isaac Asimov and Andre Norton were also favorites. And I got my love of romances from Louisa May Alcott and Barbara Cartland. (Which probably explains why I write paranormal romance.)

Debra: Yes, it does!

Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

Dana Marie: Imagination is the most important part of creating fiction; well, that and the common sense to know when to rein that imagination in. (“Seriously! I TOTALLY think Lion-O should have a Thundercat lightsaber. Oh! And he should have a Power Ranger’s ‘zord powered by the Elfstones of Shannara! Why not? Really? It’s too much? Damn. There goes that idea.”) Dreams are a great jumping off point, but it’s imagination and sweat that bring a story to life.

Speaking of imagination, I have the start of a new series coming out July 28th through Samhain Publishing: Dare to Believe, the first of The Gray Court novels. It’s the beginning of my take on modern fae (sidhe, poukas, leprechauns, etc.) and began, of course, with a healthy dose of imagination.

Debra: Oh but Lion -O should have that lightsaber! LOL Yes, well, I see what you mean. Imagination and sweat, yes, those are the two pillars that hold the stories up so that they can become books. Both are equally as important, I believe. One without the other and the work becomes lopsided.

Dana Marie, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Dana Marie: Thank you for having me!

Debra: It's been a pleasure.

Readers please visit Dana Marie at

www.danamariebell.com
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Debra's News/Debra is Watching:

This week I will be hard at work on revisions to the manuscript so it can be ready to ship out the door soon. I'm getting impatient for it to be ready and that's a good thing because that creates the drive and push which gets things done.

Part of my new routine is to spend Thursdays at the library from 9 to 5, writing. During that time I do not take phone calls or emails, even with the iphone. It's my writing retreat day and this will be my routine from now on unless there is an emergency or I am traveling.

www.debraparmley.com

Make-Believe Mondays With Leslie Dicken

Today on Make-Believe Mondays my guest is Leslie Dicken.

Leslie, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Leslie: I’m actually going back and forth between two. One is a dark, paranormal historical and the other is an urban fantasy or, uh, contemporary paranormal? LOL! Don’t always know where these stories fit in the subgenres. I tend to write dark, scared heroes and unlikely heroines. We’ll see which one I finish first!

Debra: So it will be a surprise to you as well.

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Leslie: I read - all sorts of genres and romantic subgenres. I also make jewelry, which fills me creatively in visual and visceral ways. And for the ultimate in clearing the mind, I’ll do gardening/yard work.

Debra: There's something about moving the body that does it for so many writers. So many times a writer is creative in other ways as well.

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Leslie: Yes, two of my books had their premise based on dreams. Both futuristic books I wrote for Samhain as Jordanna Kay originated as dreams. THE PRICE OF DISCOVERY was conceived after I had a dream about a beautiful Victorian-style house in the middle of nowhere. Who would live there? Why would it be out there? For my novella, TABOO, I never forgot a dream I had many years ago of two types of people who had evolved to suit their particular niches on a distant planet. I kept mulling it over, wondering how they got to that planet and what would happen if those two separate peoples interacted....and what if they fell in love?

Debra: Ah, that "what if" that is the source of every story....

Leslie, thank you for visiting with us here on Make-Believe Mondays to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Readers please visit Leslie at

www.lesliedicken.com
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Debra's News/Debra is watching:

Well I am moving a little slow today after the big camping weekend. The heat index was 111 and this was a primitive camp site so there was no electric or water. I survived it, managed to have fun and now have even more to write about when the situation calls for it. Nothing like wearing a medieval gown in the heat of the day and feeling the sweat roll down your back.

I'm enjoying the a/c once again and will be back to the writing once the laundry is caught up tonight and everything is shaken out for spiders.

www.debraparmley.com

Make-Believe Mondays With Jane Lovering

Today on Make-Believe Mondays, I'm pleased to introduce Jane Lovering.

Jane, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Jane: Well, at the moment I’m sweating over two manuscripts (it’s messy and I have to keep mopping, but at least I’m working). The first is called Unconventional Behaviour, and is about a woman being whisked away to a Sci-Fi convention by her best friend. While she’s there she meets the star of the show, a man she’s had a crush on for ages… but things are never that straightforward, are they? Last time I met a man I’d had a crush on for ages, he ran away. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that face at him, but..sigh, too late now.

Debra: Oh those crushes, they certainly can be surprising. lol

Jane: The second WIP is a Very British vampire novel, called Dead Run. It’s set in York, my hometown, and the vamps are menacing, sinister and very well dressed. They spend a lot of time driving Ferraris and being terrible posers, and they have no desire to find their Soul Mates because they’re having far too good a time shagging everything that moves, thank you.

Debra: Of course finding ones soul mate would put an end to those good times! lol

Jane: I’m flitting between the two, because one is very down-to-earth and features a sensible heroine getting involved in circumstances beyond her control, and the other…oh. Now I come to look at it, both heroines are sensible. Bother. Oh well, too late to do anything about it now. Just have to hope no-one notices all the sensibleness. To be fair, there’s also a lot of bonkersness going on too.

Debra: Oh but it's fun when the sensible ones fall in love. Fun to watch them.

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Jane: That’s something I rarely have to worry about. I’m more concerned about my creative juices spilling out and staining the carpet or letting the crumbs of the HobNob of imagination (recently dipped into the cup of creativity, and therefore slightly soggy) drop onto next door’s poodle of despair.

I don’t have time to worry about it, I guess is the answer. I’ve got five kids, a husband, a job, two dogs, four cats, two rats and athlete’s foot. Writing novels is what I do to stop myself from running around the house yelling about the mess and waving a saucepan in a threatening manner. Ideas I’m not short of. Time and space to write them up… that’s what I’m lacking.

Debra: With such a lively household it's no wonder your creative cup never empties out!

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Jane: The Amazing Mr Whisper, by Brenda Macrow. I read that book so often that the cover fell off, which was a terrible blow for the local library, from where I’d borrowed it. The story of a magical tutor (hey, I’m British, we all have tutors and governesses over here), who taught the children in his care to use simple magic. I loved that book! It was kind of like Harry Potter, without the sex, drugs and violence. I wouldn’t say that this book made me ‘want to write’ – that was later books, where people supposedly lived real lives without ever going to the toilet or having a bath, which made me desperately want to write realistic stuff – but it filled me with an innocent kind of longing to live that life. Oh, and he was rather sexy, as I remember, Mr Whisper. Or maybe I was just at that age…

Debra: The title alone is enough to intrigue me. It sounds like a wonderful book! And anyone named Mr. Whisper must be simply marvelous.

Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

Jane: Yes. Keep reading. And not only because it’s the only way I’m ever going to be able to afford to build that stable block, but because stories are essential. Anything that takes us out of today, away from those bills that need paying and that shopping that needs doing, and transports us to a world where maybe – just maybe – everything we’ve ever wanted could become real. Oh, and if that ever does happen, just remember one thing -

Johnny Depp. I saw him first.

Debra: Jane thank you for visiting with us here on Make-Believe Mondays to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Please visit Jane at www.janelovering.co.uk/

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Debra's News/Debra is Watching:

This week I am getting ready for another medieval weekend with the SCA, called Border Raids. I plan to take along a notebook and squeeze in a bit of writing. We'll be camping and I hope the nights are a bit cooler. It's been passing 100 and the heat index has been around 110.

Also revising the work in progress this week. There are some pics from the book signing at my beauty salon, A Clientage, which will be up on MySpace and Faceboook this week.
www.debraparmley.com

Make-Beleieve Mondays with Amy Ruttan

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'm pleased to introduce Amy Ruttan

Amy, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Amy: Right now I am working on the final book of my Enchantress series, Enchantress The Valkyrie. I NEED to get it done before my third child is born, and he’s coming June 26th 2009. LOL. It’s not the deadline from my publisher it’s the deadline from the tenant in my belly which is driving me to get the words done. I’ve done the tally, I’ve written over 200,000 words since January 2009. Mind boggling for me, anyways I digress, Enchantress The Valkyrie it’s set in Saxon England, but has some fun paranormal elements to it. My Enchantress series has characters with magical powers. This is a story about Rowena, she’s recently widowed, no kids, and her husband’s brother is coming to claim her so he can keep her dower lands. Thing is her keep is attacked by Vikings, and as she helps her household escape, she is stuck and she dresses herself up as a young boy to escape rape. The hero Galen decides to sell the “boy” as a slave, but he finds himself strangely attracted to him. This infuriates him to no end. It’s proving to be a very fun book to write. I think I’m subliminally torturing my DH through my poor hero. Not a book to write in the third trimester to be certain. LOL!

Debra: Wow, now that's a deadline! Congrats, btw. :-) That does sound like a fun book to write. Hmm I wonder what kind of scene you would write if you were going into labor? Or right after? lol

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Amy: I love to read and I love movies. Comedies especially. Music also restores my creative muse as does car trips. I love to take day trips in the car. My kids also help revitalize me. I love spending time with them. I love that I have a job now where I can spend time at home doing what I love and being with my kids. Another cup filler is my local RWA chapter The Toronto Romance Writers, the support and comraderie is a definite cup filler. I always feel revitalized and jazzed coming from one of the meetings.

Debra: It's a beautiful thing when spending time around other writers does that. They "get" us like no one else can. Car trips are wonderful and it's the perfect time of year for them. Picnic on the seat and off to wherever the road takes you.

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Amy: I dream up whole books. I call these blessed dreams Plot Monkeys. Kind of like the flying monkey’s from the Wizard of Oz but cuter. ;) Dreams often play an important role in my writing. My Enchantress series came from a dream I had after having my first child back in 2003. I had a dream of a fey woman with long red hair running through the forest, graceful and beautiful and being chased by a very handsome warrior. I knew from the dreams they were enemies but were going to be thrown together. Of course these two became Edwin and Aislinn from Enchantress The Fey.

Debra: Plot Monkeys! I love it! Can just see them. :-) Childbirth and creativity also go together, sometimes in unusual ways.

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Amy: It’s a trifecta tie between Laura Ingalls Wilder, Lucy Maud Montgomery and Roald Dahl. I love the history and romance of the Anne Series, the wanderlust of Pa Ingalls and Laura’s adventures in the frontier and Roald Dahl’s kookiness. His stories were so dark and eerie it really set my fertile little mind off, and because of these three writers I read voraciously as a child. I was always reading “above” my grade. I had a huge imagination and books were one of the ways I fed it.

Debra: Trifecta, yes. I could not choose one over the other either.

If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?

Amy: Ooh I have no idea. Working in e-publishing is quite freeing and the publishers are more apt to take a risk on things traditional publishing houses won’t. I think for me I would like to write an epic set on a distant world. A real Sci Fi for my father. One day when I have time I may try. LOL.

Debra: So true. We have much more leeway in e-publishing. Seems like the traditional publishing houses are watching them though and trying to catch up. Look how many have now added e-books.

Amy, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Amy: I love to hear from readers contact@amyruttan.com

And my website www.amyruttan.com

Thanks for having me! J

Debra: It's been my pleasure.

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Debra's News/Debra is posting:

Well it's been a couple weeks since I reported in and did an interview. What's been going on?

Let's see....I had a birthday day with about thirty friends, which was awesome!

Chipped a tooth eating an almond. (Be careful with those hard little nuts.)

Had a book signing at my beauty salon which was so much fun! Hair dryers going and ladies getting their nails done. There was a constant flow of people having books signed and visiting. I had a blast!

Then Friday a tornado came through Bartlett, TN. We're fine, just lost a few tree lines and power. Internet came back up last night.

So, I'm happy to report today is quiet, the rest of the week is likely to be quiet. Which is just what I need to get some writing done. I've had enough excitement for a while.

www.debraparmley.com
Posted a few new pics on my www.myspace.com/debraparmley and Facebook from the book signing. Updates are coming on my website, I'm just not sure when.

And now back to the manuscript under revision................perhaps next week I'll talk a little about it.

Make-Believe Mondays with Judi Fennell

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'm pleased to introduce Judi Fennel.

Judi, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you're working on now.

Judi: Currently, I'm finishing up the third book in my Mer series, Catch of a Lifetime.

In Over Her Head, which comes out in June, is the first book in the series. It's the story of a merman named Reel, and a woman who's afraid of the ocean. Having seen JAWS at a young age, I can totally relate to Erica's fear. When she accidentally gets shot and wakes up under the water, she thinks she's died and gone to hell, so talking fish and a merman are to be expected. It's when she realizes that she's not dead that she really starts to freak out. Then The Oceanic Council sends her and Reel off on a search for missing diamonds and all her fears of the sea start to come true. Sea monsters, deadly sharks, barracuda... Erica can't wait to get back on land. Toss in a couple of nights with Reel on a deserted island, however, and she might just change her mind.

Debra: I can't wait to read this series, Judi. I confess to being a bit phobic of water myself. Though I did learn to swim in college and can swim anywhere with a life jacket (and now love to snorkle), the phobia is still there.

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Judi: My characters usually start talking to me before I start the story. They are the ones who dictate to me and if I try to write something in a way they don't want, they let me know.

Debra: Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?

Judi: I always play with words: puns, plays-on-words, double entendre, clichés... you name it, I use it. But I like to put twists on it. Since I'm creating an undersea world with its own set of rules and hierarchy and mythology, plus the fact that I pull on several known mythologies, I did take several words and join them to create a new word for the world. Selinos means "years," based on thirteen moon cycles (since they live under the sea, their lives are governed by the moon) in my Mer language and it's a combination of:

(σεληνη) pronounced sel-ay-nay selanay (moon)

ετος) pronounced eh-tos atos (year)

I also take common expressions and make them "Mer friendly." S-O-B, for example, becomes S-O-M (Son-of-a-Mer) or, Son-of-a-Sandpiper, depending on who's saying it. Task at hand becomes task-at-fin, etc. That, to me, was also part of the fun of creating this world.

Debra: These are not only fascinating, but playful and fun! Thanks for sharing them.

Judi: As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world? I was a voracious reader (and still am, deadlines notwithstanding). I loved the worlds of L. Frank Baum (The Wizard of Oz series), Hugh Lofting (Dr. Doolittle), as well as all the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys/Bobbsey Twins books. I loved Dodie Smith's 101 Dalmatians and the sequel, Twilight Barking, the hilarity of Freaky Friday, and Dorothy Wisbieski's The True Story of Okee The Otter. I always wanted to have a pet otter, but since that's not exactly a viable thing, my husband did sponsor the river otters in my local zoo a few years for me as a Christmas present. Talking animals, magic and adventure were my focus; toss in a love of romance starting in eighth grade, and I really had no choice but to write what I write.

Debra: Great stories! And what a sweet thing for your husband to do!

If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?

Judi: Exactly the ones I'm writing. I wrote this story for me; the fact that others have loved it has been a blessing. I let my imagination run (swim?) wild with this one and the fact that I am writing more in the series just means I can live in that world and explore all the possibilities. That's the beauty of the romance world - you can go anywhere with it.

Debra: This is what I love to hear an author say when I ask this question. I really believe it's how the Harry Potter stories are born. Letting the imagination go and running with it.

Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

Judi: Okay, here's one for you. Rocky Horror Picture Show (ah, the 80s...) "Don't dream it, be it." Who would have ever thought that my "little talking fish story" would spark a whole world--and a writing career? No one was writing it because no one had thought of it. Don't not try something because it hasn't been done. Don't not read something because it sounds a little off the beaten path. Who knows where your imagination can take you if you don't give it a chance?

Debra: Exactly! (I have to admit this answer gave me goose bumps.) And I love that quote.

Judi, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Judi: It's been my pleasure, Debra. Thank you so much for having me.

Debra: You're quite welcome, Judi. It's been fun!

Judi: I'd like to let your readers know that they can register to win one of three romantic beach getaway packages to celebrate the release of each of my books. Because In Over Her Head and Wild Blue Under take place off the coast of Ocean City, NJ, the Atlantis Inn Bed & Breakfast (www.AtlantisInn.com, talk about the perfect name!) is offering two weekends. The Hibiscus House (www.HibiscusHouse.com) in West Palm Beach, FL, is the third package since Catch of a Lifetime takes place off the eastern coast of Florida. Please stop by my website www.JudiFennell.com to register to win.

Debra: What awesome prizes. It doesn't get much better than that! Be sure to visit Judi and register to win!
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Debra's News/Debra is watching:

This week I'm making plans/getting ready for my birthday party which is next Saturday. (Birthday is actually Sunday.)

Continuing to work on the manuscript and plan to have it ready to send out by the end of June, if not before.

Also planning for a book signing at my beauty salon, A Clientage, on Thursday June 11th from 3:00 to 9:00 pm. You can find the invitation on my home page:

www.debraparmley.com

My website will be updated soon with pictures from the book launch party, from the RT convention in Orlando and a few other things. So stay tuned...

Make-Believe Mondays With Maria Geraci

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I am thrilled to introduce everyone to my American Title II sister, Maria Geraci, now that her first book is out!

Maria, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Maria: I’m working on a proposal for the third Bunco Babes book. It’s tentatively titled Bunco Babes Back in Action and features the characters I introduced in my first two books, as well as a new protagonist. It’s not sold yet, but keep your fingers crossed for me!

Debra: I will cross all fingers and toes for you!

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Maria: I’m always reading, watching films, being inspired by the real people and events in my life. You know the old saying ‘truth is stranger than fiction’? Well, it’s true! I find inspiration in the everyday things that make our lives so important- family and friends.

Debra: Yes, that's so true! Lately I've been completely revising one of my manuscripts because of life changes and events, which makes me glad that one hasn't sold yet. And I love old films too. In Memphis there is a summer film series at the Orpheum which starts this Friday and I'm planning to go see Breakfast at Tiffanys. One of my favorites.

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Maria: Definitely. It’s faster with some characters than others, but there’s always a sort of ‘aha’ moment when I feel that I truly “know” a character. Some characters of course, try to take over the story. They’re the ones you have to watch out for and probably the most fun to write.

Debra: Yes, I know just what you mean. I have to wrestle my secondary characters sometimes because they like to steal scenes. That's better than killing them off, I am learning. lol

Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?

Maria: Oh yeah. One of my secondary characters in my Bunco Babes books is Cuban-American (like me). Pilar is always making up words that you won’t find in Webster’s Dictionary. Sort of like her own version of Spanglish. For instance, she refers to text-messaging as ‘tex-mexing.’ That’s a line I totally stole from my sister, by the way.

Debra: Ooh I love that! 'Tex-mexing' Your sister sounds fun and I like the name Pilar.

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Maria: I can’t say that I actually dreamed a scene (although I’m sure I probably have and just don’t remember it), but I definitely daydream scenes all the time. When I’m in the middle of writing a scene (which could take up to 2 weeks for me) I’ll be thinking of it constantly, and then at the most obscure moment- like while waiting in line at the grocery store- the perfect piece of dialogue will come to me. It’s like I’ve been subconsciously working the scene out in my head and the answer will come at the strangest time and place.

Debra: Yeah the subconscious is funny like that. At the grocery, while driving, or at the sink with hands in the soapy dishwater. Then it's oh shoot where's a pen? lol

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Maria: I loved Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. I think I read that book a dozen times. I was drawn by the strong female characters and the historical time period that I found so fascinating.

Debra: Oh, that's one of the best.

If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?

Maria: I think I would write some erotica. Something really crazy and out there, but honestly, I’d probably be too embarrassed by what I came up with to ever show it to anyone!

Debra: lol You are so funny. (Course if you wrote it under a different name like so many authors do, no one would know it was you!)

Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

Maria: I think one of the most important things while writing is to always let the characters tell the story. While plotting is good (and necessary) don’t let a plot become so rigid that you miss the spontaneity that happens during the creative process. Sometimes our characters really do know what’s best.

Debra: Excellent advice, Maria. Thank you for joining me here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Maria: Thanks for having me!

Debra: My pleasure!

Maria: I’ve always wanted to be featured on Make believe Monday!

Debra: And I've been waiting for the day your first book would come out so you could visit!

Readers please visit Maria at
www.mariageraci.com

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Debra's News/Debra is watching:

www.debraparmley.com