Mary's Story on Writing
My darling husband, Bill, bought me the publishing package for Deadly Pleasures as a Christmas present in 2010. He went crazy and ordered all kinds of services, and he loved doing it. What he, or I, did not know is that he would pass away in his sleep six months later. The editing, choosing a cover, and all the things that go into a new book actually saved me from spiraling down into a deep depression. I had to keep moving. I had to do the work whether I felt like it or not. Now, the book is out and doing quite well. I have done TV interviews, radio interviews, newspaper and blog interviews. My only wish is that he could be here to be a part of all this.
My plan is to write a Trilogy of Deadly books, using some of the same characters. Right now I am trying very hard to get back to my second book, Deadly Secrets which is about half finished. The synopsis is complete, and I am ready to continue writing, but with all the promotion and interviews on Deadly Pleasures, it is hard to find the time. I have to again revert back to the Harold Robbins theory, which is “Put some Ass Glue on your chair and do not get up until you have written 5-10 pages.” When I do this, I produce.
Early on, in my writing, I had to drag myself away from the computer because I had so much to say. I researched Voodoun Fire, my first writing attempt, to death. I spent every waking hour obsessed with writing. In order to keep my marriage and family intact, I had to come up with a better system. Since I am a night person, I chose to work at night. I promised myself to get up and go to bed after three hours, and sometimes I did. Since most of writing is re-writing I am fortunate that I like to re-write. Getting that new idea out onto a blank page is very hard for me, it is like giving birth. It was only when I convinced myself that everything did not have to be perfect the first time I wrote it down that I eased up on myself. I don’t know if I expected Ernest Hemingway to imbue my spirit and guide me down the path of the perfect sentence, but it definitely did not happen.
I have consciously chosen to make my writing as invisible as possible so that my readers may glide over the words and see only the picture I am trying to paint, or feel the feeling I am trying to evoke. If I can do that I think I will be a good writer. I love to read the writings of the great Masters but I know I will never be a writer like those people. First of all the cadence and manner of speech was different from the way ours is today. I mean, how well would those guys do on Twitter? I rest my case.
I hope I have reassured at least one person out there that you do not have to be perfect in your writing, but you must START. After you have written
your words down on paper it will all come together like a giant jigsaw puzzle with words instead of pieces. I wish you all the best of luck with your writing –but above all have fun.
Mary Firmin
Book Description: Megan Riley has bigger things to worry about than the fact that her neighbor has just been found dead. Her engagement has just ended, and she is once again on a quest to find Mr. Right-or at least Mr. Right Now. Tired of emotional ties and ready for a new adventure, Megan and her three best friends make a fateful decision. They hire hunky stripper Michael Harrington as their timeshare boytoy-unaware he is the prime suspect in a series of gruesome murders. Suddenly, they find themselves involved in a complicated murder investigation led by a handsome detective who is focused only on finding the twisted serial killer before he strikes again. But who will be the next to die? Megan, the hardworking real estate agent; newly divorced Kathleen; Alex, married to a wealthy businessman; or Rachel, the spurned wife of a hot Hollywood screenwriter? Following her own investigation, Megan takes a wild ride through L.A.’s bondage parlors, hidden sex clubs, and the extravagant lifestyles of the rich and famous; soon she discovers that her quest for adventure has abruptly transformed into a dangerous game of life and death.
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About the Author
Mary Firmin was born in the North of England, emigrated to Canada, then traveled to Florida where she owned and operated an Arthur Murray Dance Studio. She moved on to Santa Monica, California where she worked in Real Estate Sales and eventually became Vice President of a large firm on the West Side. She began her writing career by attending many classes at local colleges, including UCLA, and then moved on to private writer’s groups. As active members of a Southern California Yacht Club, Mary and her husband traveled up and down the California Coastline for years, and spent many days on Catalina Island. Upon moving to the Desert, Mary wrote a society column for a Palm Springs newspaper. It is from these experiences she forged her characters and the story of Deadly Pleasures. This book is a fun, casual read with a little romance, some deviant sex, and a sick serial killer. It is sure to keep your attention to the very end. Mary’s loving husband, Bill, passed away this year. She has three children, one gorgeous grandchild and lives in Rancho Mirage, California. Mary is now working on her second book in this series, Deadly Secrets.
Writing Mythically
By J.S.Watts
Myths, legends and fairy tales have always enchanted me. As a very small child I loved the stories my mother made up. They were a mix of genuine history (at a young age, I was already inappropriately fascinated by the bloody deeds of the past) and lighter tales of the fairy Mustard Seed and her chums. When my father sang to me I always wanted more of “The Mermaid With The Rusty Tail” – a song he made up to entertain me and then regretted because, having wanted more, I always wanted more again.
Once I was old enough to read stories for myself, I methodically worked my way through the “Myths and Legends of the World” series in the children’s section of our local public library. Then I discovered Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia” and there was no looking back.
Given all of this, I guess it is hardly surprising that myths and fairy stories, and all the enticingly mysterious things that flutter in-between, feature with some regularity in my writing.
Many of my poems carry shadows of myths and legends at their core; likewise, my short stories. My tale of “The Last Dragon” is traditional, but original, myth and fairy story combined. When the time came to put together the manuscript for my first poetry book, it seemed a very natural thing to base it around my fascination with legend and fantasy and thus “Cats and Other Myths” was born - a collection that finds contemporary relevance in the echoes of myth and legend and the mythic in the day to day world around us.
In a similar vein, when I first put pen to paper (I always write original drafts longhand, it helps me to think) to begin the process of writing my first novel, it was hardly surprising that my contemporary tale of a man’s obsession with the unknown mother who abandoned him as an infant took on dark mythic tones. The psychological narrative at the heart of the story melded with legends from the Judaic Apocrypha and “A Darker Moon” began to emerge from their union, but of that, more later.
Over the years I have attempted to analyse my fascination with the mythic and have come to this conclusion: the act of creating fantasy, producing something out of nothing, beginning with a totally blank page, screen or canvas and putting absolutely whatever we want on it, can allow us to project ourselves, the core of our humanity if you like, onto our brand new creation. In other words, what we make-up reflects an element of ourselves back at us. Let me give you two examples to illustrate the point.
Example one: American SF B movies of the 50s and 60s – total fantasy and yet psychologists now tell us that at these films’ heart lies not the fear of “ little green aliens”, but fear of a more imminent other, The USSR of the Cold War period.
Example two: my own poem, “Way Lin and the Dragon” (from “Cats and Other Myths”) where each speaker describes the mythical dragon in his own image, mirroring his own preoccupations. Here are the first two verses to give you a flavour:
“What colour are the eyes of the dragon?
Asked Way Lin of the old man under the tree.
They are as cold and white as death:
White as a shroud, as the flesh of a corpse,
White as the bones of the dead that he feeds on,
White as ash.
Now ask me no more.
What colour are the eyes of the dragon?
Asked Way Lin of the young warrior.
They are as hot and red as blood:
Red as battle and the torn flesh of men,
Red as the claws of the hunter and his bloodied prey,
Red as fear.
Now ask me no more.”
And so back to my novel, “A Darker Moon”, which weaves echoes of myth and legend with literary fiction and psychological mystery to create “a dark, psychological fantasy”.
The main story focuses on the anti-hero Abe Finchley, who is struggling to come to terms with his own existential darkness, a strangely ragged memory and a revealed dark and violent family history that spans generations into humanity’s deepest past. I also like to think that it touches upon, however indirectly, the nature of humanity, because human memory, per se, is a thing of patchy darkness. Sometimes the blackness lies in what we remember, sometimes in what we cannot help but forget. Hopefully, no one has issues as dark or as complex as Abe’s, but few of us is totally without shadow. The old myths and legends that “A Darker Moon” draws on, as well as its newly created fantasy, illuminate Abe’s story, but maybe reflect a little bit of light back on ourselves. I probably ought to point out by way of gentle warning, though, that the promotional tag line to the book is: “A mythical tale of light and shadow and the unlit places where it is best not to shine even the dimmest light.”
About the Author
J.S.Watts is a British writer. She was born in London, England and now lives and writes near Cambridge in East Anglia. In between, she read English at Somerville College, Oxford and spent many years working in the British education sector. She remains committed to the ideals of further and higher education despite governments of assorted political persuasions trying to demolish them.
Her poetry, short stories and book reviews appear in a variety of publications in Britain, Canada, Australia and the States including Acumen, Envoi, Mslexia and Fantastique Unfettered and have been broadcast on BBC and independent Radio. She has been Poetry Reviews Editor for Open Wide Literary Magazine and, until its demise, Poetry Editor for Ethereal Tales. Her debut poetry collection, Cats and Other Myths and a subsequent poetry pamphlet, Songs of Steelyard Sue are published by Lapwing Publications. Her novel, A Darker Moon, is published by Vagabondage Press Further details of her books can be found on her website: www.jswatts.co.uk . You can also find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/J.S.Watts.page
Book Description: Megan Riley has bigger things to worry about than the fact that her neighbor has just been found dead. Her engagement has just ended, and she is once again on a quest to find Mr. Right-or at least Mr. Right Now. Tired of emotional ties and ready for a new adventure, Megan and her three best friends make a fateful decision. They hire hunky stripper Michael Harrington as their timeshare boytoy-unaware he is the prime suspect in a series of gruesome murders. Suddenly, they find themselves involved in a complicated murder investigation led by a handsome detective who is focused only on finding the twisted serial killer before he strikes again. But who will be the next to die? Megan, the hardworking real estate agent; newly divorced Kathleen; Alex, married to a wealthy businessman; or Rachel, the spurned wife of a hot Hollywood screenwriter? Following her own investigation, Megan takes a wild ride through L.A.’s bondage parlors, hidden sex clubs, and the extravagant lifestyles of the rich and famous; soon she discovers that her quest for adventure has abruptly transformed into a dangerous game of life and death. 
Mary Firmin was born in the North of England, emigrated to Canada, then traveled to Florida where she owned and operated an Arthur Murray Dance Studio. She moved on to Santa Monica, California where she worked in Real Estate Sales and eventually became Vice President of a large firm on the West Side. She began her writing career by attending many classes at local colleges, including UCLA, and then moved on to private writer’s groups. As active members of a Southern California Yacht Club, Mary and her husband traveled up and down the California Coastline for years, and spent many days on Catalina Island. Upon moving to the Desert, Mary wrote a society column for a Palm Springs newspaper. It is from these experiences she forged her characters and the story of Deadly Pleasures. This book is a fun, casual read with a little romance, some deviant sex, and a sick serial killer. It is sure to keep your attention to the very end. Mary’s loving husband, Bill, passed away this year. She has three children, one gorgeous grandchild and lives in Rancho Mirage, California. Mary is now working on her second book in this series, Deadly Secrets.
