Interview with Marion Mackay
This Month's Guest is: Marion MacKay
TF: Today I want to introduce you to a friend and author. He writes in the Action/Adventure genre and his first work, The Treasure Hunted was a most enjoyable read and earned an invitation to this blog. Welcome Richard Nix; aka Marion MacKay.
MM: First, Tim, I'd like to say congratulations on your finalist position in the Clive Cussler Adventure Writer's Competition with Zero Point. That's quite an accomplishment and such a great read. And thank you for hosting this blog and inviting me today.
TF: You're most welcome. So where do we start? Tell us about yourself, Richard, or should I say…Marion?
MM: Well, Tim, to save confusion let's just stick to Marion.
MM: I was born Richard M. Nix in Bakersfield, California in 1958, before former President Richard M. Nixon made the use of a pen name a necessity.
I recognized the need to avoid confusion, and used my middle name, Marion, and my Scottish ancestral clan name and henceforth for the purpose of clarity I go by Marion MacKay.
TF: Fair enough.
MM: As to my childhood, I spent a lot of time alone and though that sounds awful, I believe it is what helped to develop my imagination and ability to tap the creative ether. I have always had a story running in the background of my life. I learned early on to take the "what if" game to new heights and my most relaxing hours are those spent alone enjoying the flow of the creative ether coursing through my mind.
TF: When did you discover that you wanted to write, and what inspired you to choose the genre of action/ adventure?
MM: I think I caught the story telling bug from my Grandfather early on, and my first real writing was a skit in the sixth grade. It was a silly thing with three other "actors" and we got a few chuckles from the crowd.
The action/adventure/espionage/conspiracy angle I blame entirely on my mother. She read to me all the time and my favorite book was a very weathered copy of Passport To Treason by Alan Hynd. I spent many a childhood afternoon curled up with her and that story.
TF: Speaking of action, and having read The Treasure Hunted, can you tell us if there will be future Treasure Eylund adventures in-store? If so, can you give us a title, or a hint as to the story, or is it still in development?
MM: Yes, book two in the series is about twenty percent written. The title is Memories That Kill and though I can't divulge the plot, I will say that Treasure and her friends are pitted against a tough foe and of course there is a ticking clock before doomsday.
In book one, the threat was biological but the ante is higher in book two and I feel there will be a sizable increase in pages to get this story told.
Also, I'll let slip that there will be a few new love interests spread around and deeper character development of our core group and a few new faces joining the adventure.
TF: What authors inspired your writing, and who among them is your favorite?
MM: Well, I already mentioned Alan Hynd and of course Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, David Baldacci, and Clive Cussler. I think Mr. Cussler has exerted the most influence on my writing. His Dirk Pitt books have been read and reread, loaned, stolen and replaced, time and again throughout my life.
TF: Can you share with us some of the things you went through as a new author that may help others?. For instance; your cover design, readers, edits, and such.
MM: Well, my stories come to me in movie format. To some that's a curse but I find it to be a blessing.
I, like so many authors have a stack of unfinished manuscripts which I drag out now and again to remind me what I've learned.
The toughest thing, as I'm certain you know, is to complete.
I used to get so involved in "watching the story " that I would lose myself. I'd see them and hear them and often immerse myself so deeply that I could feel the story around me.
Of course at some point I would outline what I had seen, and then go back and try to flesh it all out.
TF: So what do you feel kept you from completing those early stories?
MM: I lacked a process. I had no plan. It was only later that I learned the most simple of tricks. Now, I build a master folder and about 25 documents inside it titled Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc. I write until I feel it's a good place to jump and I close the chapter I just wrote and open the next.
This way, when I have time to write, I don't waste it reading everything I've written to date and get stuck in re-writes and editing and nonsense like that.
Write. Edit Punctuation and Continuity. Polish/Re-Write. Then Proofread about a dozen times and have as many people you trust proofread it too. Then proofread it some more.
(laughs)
I would be remiss if I didn't give credit to Ash Sivils the amazing artist who produced the cover art. There is a great backstory here but for the sake of brevity, let me just say; always check your art for copyright and then check it a few more times.
Ash stepped in when I had to trash my original cover and she put out that art in about 24 hours. I laid on the text and the rest is history. She was a lifesaver. I ended up with a better cover and I didn't get sued by New Zealand, who owned the allegedly copyright clear art I had mistakenly used.
TF: Did you find it difficult to get honest feedback from test readers?
MM: There were a few who didn't get five pages in but later said it was fabulous. And I only had two step up and call me on the punctuation. That, was a blessing, as I had missed so much.
Overall, I had a hard time believing my readers until I put it out there and garnered a few good reviews from strangers. I think I held my breath for about three months during that time. (laughs)
TF: I know you used to bill yourself as a novelist masquerading as a dump truck driver. Now with construction tanked, I understand you are back in school retraining?
MM: Yes, I spent thirty years wandering in a full circle from pre-law and law enforcement through a myriad of different jobs and now I am in college chasing my Paralegal degree.
TF: So when do you find time to write?
MM: I try to get to bed as early as possible and wake up in the wee hours to write a bit. I like three o'clock in the morning. It's a good time to write.
TF: Any closing thoughts to writers?
MM: Remember there are others out there getting the same feed from the ether that you are, and the one, who completes first, wins. Make time to write. And remember; write, then edit. Get the story down, even if you have to just go all caps and say finish this… or fill here…. Just write the story out before you start monkeying with editing and rewrites.
TF: Sound advice, from a published author. Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Marion.
MM: This was truly my pleasure, Tim. Best of luck in the Cussler Competition.
———————————————————————————————————————————————-
Marion MacKay's first novel The Treasure Hunted is now on the shelf at Amazon.com in Kindle format.
Don't own a Kindle? You can get a Kindle reader for the PC, MAC, i-phone-pad-pod,touch Android or Blackberry for FREE.
Download it in the Kindle Store.
MacKay is working on book two, Memories That Kill.
Check out this 5 Star rated author's work today.
~Join The Adventure~
