Ask the Author: Zoe M. McCarthy
Answered Questions (6)
Zoe M. McCarthy
I'm a retired actuary. (Actuaries evaluate the financial risks of insurance companies.) I wanted to evaluate a different kind of risk: the probability of romance between two extreme opposites. What better professions than an actuary for my analytical, private, hates-to-be wrong hero. Of course, my social, vibrant, lives-by-sticky-notes heroine had to be a marketing rep. Get them together for a long holiday weekend at his parents' home, and the fun begins.
Zoe M. McCarthy
It doesn't take much for me to be inspired to write. I see possible stories in what I hear and see everywhere I go. Once, the bullseye on a Target store's sign inspired a short story. Sometimes dreams spark ideas. I'm never short of ideas.
Zoe M. McCarthy
At the moment, I'm spending much time promoting Calculated Risk. But I am writing another romance about extreme opposites. The hero is a frustrated golf pro who wants to teach golf instead of sell merchandise in the clubhouse golf shop. His brother has recently died. The heroine is his brother's widow, trying to move beyond her grief and deal with a painful discovery about her husband. The last thing the hero feels qualified to do is comfort his sister-in-law, but that's what he feels he's called to do. She's not crazy about his attempts. She feels like he's pushing her and accuses him of thinking grief can be solved by hitting a bucket of golf balls. They are thrown together, though, through family and through taking care of the messy problem his brother/her husband left behind.
Zoe M. McCarthy
I heard an agent say that it usually takes 4 completed manuscripts to learn to write. It's the 5th that finds a contract. That was true for me. For each of the 4 books before the contracted one, I received better and better rejection letters, the editors spending more time to encourage me with helpful comments and invitations to send other projects to them. I was truly learning to write. So, complete those novels in your hearts. There's a purpose for each one.
Zoe M. McCarthy
The best thing for me about being a writer is the gift of being able to express thoughts, ideas, stories, and my faith. I can't imagine all these bottled inside me.
Zoe M. McCarthy
I've never experienced a hard dose of writer's block. I love to brainstorm, and with prayer, the ideas and words come.
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