Author Interview with Sean Paul Murphy

The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God is
Sean’s inspirational, coming-of-age tale of first faith
and first love and how the two became almost fatally
intertwined in his life.  It is a poignant and
insightful meditation on surviving in the gray area between
God’s sovereignty and our individual free will.
“Unless you’re a big name celebrity or other well-known
personality, selling your memoir is more than just
difficult; it’s often impossible. After all, everyone has
a story to tell, don’t they? When we received Sean’s
pitch, we weren’t certain it would be one we’d
pursue—even with his clear accomplishments in the
film/movie industry. But a few pages in and I was hooked.”
Publisher, Sheri Williams adds, “Sean’s author voice is
crisp and inviting. It’s like having a conversation with a
close friend and sharing the struggles and revelations
he’s encountered. And, best of all, he’s down-right
entertaining!”
While Sean wrote this book with the Christian reader in mind, the
audience for the book is definitely not limited to
born-again Christians. It was written in casual,
easy-to-understand, non-theological style to make it
accessible to spiritual seekers of all varieties. Human
beings naturally seek to find the transcendent and eternal.
This book reveals it is possible.

 The Interview

1.      Where were you when the idea for this book came to you?

I felt strongly compelled to write this book after dying on the operating table after routine surgery.   That experience made me realize that, although I was a storyteller by profession, I have never told my own story, which I felt some people would find valuable. 

           

            2. What makes your book unique? 

“The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God” is my own story.  No one could tell it but me.  In fact, many aspects of my life came as a complete surprise to even my closest friends.  Still, although the book is very personal, I have discovered that many people relate to it very deeply.

2.      Who is your primary audience?

 The book is a spiritual memoir, and since I am a Christian, I suppose the primary audience would be Christians.  However, I didn’t write the book specifically for that market.   This is not a theological book.  It is a very human tale that is both unique and universal in its appeal.  As a teenager I underwent a surprising and extraordinary spiritual conversion that falls well outside commonplace experience.  However, the awkward parallel story of first love, which my faith journey ultimately plays out against, should be aching familiar to anyone who has loved and needlessly lost.  Both stories are well worth telling, but combined I believe they possess a special value.

            Aside from love and spirituality, the book also deals all too knowingly with the subject of suicide.  My love story ends with a suicide attempt on my part.  Fortunately, my life was spared by divine intervention.  My sister would not be so lucky.  Her tragic death allowed me to experience firsthand the suffering I nearly inflicted on my family and friends.  In a final strange irony, the death of my sister resulted in a brief reunion with my lost love that gave me peaceful closure to our relationship, and my relationship with God Himself.

3.      What draws you to this genre? 

I’m a screenwriter.  To date I have written fourteen produced feature films.  I never imagined I would write a memoir.  I have always been a very private person and I was completely satisfied drawing oblique references to my formative life experiences through the framework of  myfilms.  However, after suffering a near death experience and battling a potentially fatal illness, I felt a very strong need to tell my own tale and give my testimony.

4.      What kind of research did you have to do?

Fortunately, I value the written word and I have saved almost every personal letter anyone has ever written me.  That correspondence provided the backbone of my story.  Also, when I began writing I downloaded a hundred or so songs from each of the years featured in my book.  I would randomly play the music of the years I sought to recreate as I wrote about them.  It’s amazing the memories the songs brought back.  It was a very useful tool.

5.      What challenged or surprised you about writing this story? 

The biggest challenge I faced was balancing my need to tell my story truthfully against my desire to protect the privacy of the people who played major parts in my life.  This was particularly true in the case of my former girlfriend, whom I call Kathy Gardiner.  “The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God” is about my relationship with God, but that relationship plays out mainly against the backdrop of my relationship with Kathy.  She is a very private person so I did everything within my power to obscure her identity by changing practically every traceable detail concerning her life.   This was also true of other individuals I discuss, including an old friend I essentially accuse of murder.  On the other hand, I was genuinely surprised how many people wanted me to use their real names in the book.

6.      What did you enjoy most about writing this story?

I can’t say I enjoyed writing it.  It was an emotional rollercoaster for me.  I felt bad for my wife, who had to endure my moodiness at the time.  Although most of the memories were sweet and charming, others were extremely painful for me to confront.  I find the first half of the book easy to read, but there are a number of chapters in the second half that I still avoid.  What surprises me most is that people often talk about how much humor there is in the book.  I’m glad.  I never intended it to be gloomy – despite some of the serious subject matter.  Overall, I am happy I wrote it, if only for the impact it is having on the people who read it.

7.      What do you want your audience to come away with after reading your book? 

I want people to realize that it is possible to have a true personal, relationship with the living God.  I want people to know you can reach beyond the world and touch the eternal and transcendent.  However, there’s a reason I called it the pros and cons of talking with God.  There are cons.  With knowledge comes responsibility, and there is often a temporal price to pay when you ignore God’s will in your life.  Faith might be all you need to be saved, but you must learn obedience to experience all of the riches God has in store for you.   

            9.  What are your plans for the future?

Ideally, I would prefer to move away from movies to books.  I have started a follow-up to my memoir called “Unconditional, or the Pros and Cons of Missionary Dating,” which will prove how little I learned about love during the events of the first book.  I have also started a novel.  However, film work, both as a writer and an editor, keeps getting in the way.

Sean Paul Murphy is an award-winning screenwriter with fourteen
produced feature film credits including the faith-based
favorites “Hidden Secrets,” “Sarah’s Choice,” and
“The Encounter.”   Sean lives in Baltimore, Maryland.  He is happily married
with three step-daughters, and he can be found every Sunday morning playing guitar at his church.
For media appearances, interviews, or to schedule signings contact info@touchpointpress.com .

Here are the links:

Amazon:   http://amzn.com/0692200533

B&N:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-promise-or-the-pros-and-cons-of-talking-with-god-sean-paul-murphy/1120025418?ean=9780692200537

Touchpoint:  http://touchpointpress.com/bookstore/

Personal:

My webpage:  http://seanpaulmurphyville.blogspot.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/SeanPaulMurphy

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sean.p.murphy.60

 

Kenneth Butler Author Interview

Sissy St. Hilaire wakes up in Vermont to learn that her millionaire husband, George, is in a coma after a car accident. George recovers, but he is not the same – he is kinder, smarter, and stunningly serene. George has always been an atheist, a heel, and fervently materialistic; now he is ecstatically spiritual, ignoring money and his business concerns. When George announces he is abandoning his company and family to become a Catholic priest, Sissy insists that he commit himself for observation. At the mental hospital, Sissy, a serial adulteress, meets young Father O’Toole, a man with a crisis of faith and a roving eye. Sissy realizes she is attracted to O’Toole, who promises to try and help her with her husband’s situation.

 1. Where were you when the idea for this book came to you?

When I returned to the Catholic Church at the age of 39, after years of a pretty profligate existence in L.A. and elsewhere, my friends and family thought I had lost my mind. If I'd been in the Bible Belt, they would have shouted, "Hallelujah, Thank Ya, Jesus!" -- but in button-down, non-church-going New Hampshire, the consensus was I had obviously gone insane. It took months, then a year of Mass attendance and my actual, official RC confirmation, before they accepted that this was not a passing phase -- or one of my occasional bouts of mania.

           

  2. What makes your book unique?

It's a satire, not much popular in these United States. I love all good writing, in any style or sensibility, but I have a real enthusiasm for 20th Century satirists -- Evelyn Waugh, Anthony Burgess, Peter DeVries, Terry Southern, Vladimir Nabokov, Thomas McGuane -- these are guys I really cherish. Writer Rick Carey, who's written some wonderful non-fiction books, turned my goofy story into something finer. He was one of a group of really fine writers -- Katherine Towler, Robert Begiebing, Merle Drown, were the others -- who essentially edited the manuscript. But Rick -- the only non-novelist in the group -- seemed to fully get what I was trying to do. Tamara Trudeau, my editor at TouchPoint Press, was also immensely helpful.

 

  3. Who is your primary audience?

Beats me. Kurt Vonnegut said every writer writes primarily for one person -- now, I don't necessarily think that's true, but I do believe he's onto something -- we're all writing for one individual, or a small group of individuals from whom we're trying to garner approval, admiration, affection. (Well, most of us, I mean -- I can't imagine Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn doing that.) I like it when people say my book is thought-provoking, but I get a bigger kick when they say they laughed out loud when reading it. I guess I'm more sidewalk clown than pulpit-preacher. I dedicated the book to my mother, Helena, because she got me loving books, music and movies before I even left our apartment to go to Kindergarten.

 

    4. Why did you choose this particular setting to tell your story?

Vermont is the most atheistic and least church-going state in the Union. That won the day, hands down. It had to be set there. As I became more familiar with the real-life settings of the book, opportunities presented themselves, like "Champ," the Loch Ness-type monster allegedly lurking in Lake Champlain.

 

    5. What draws you to this genre?

I'm not sure it is a genre -- a comic, satirical novel dealing with religion, materialism and corporate greed, with plenty of food porn and mild, good-humored erotica? Barnes and Noble may one day have a shelf for that. I think it also deals with alcoholism, infidelity, existential panic, and the irritation that can come daily from child-rearing in a pretty unblinking way.

 

    6. What kind of research did you have to do?

I spent time at the Weston Priory in Vermont amongst the monks, although I was pretty familiar with the monastic life from two extended stays at the monastery in Taze, France. I wanted to see the Catholic Archdiocese in Burlington -- I had seen the impressive brick structure in a photo -- but had no idea it was right on the immediate shores of Lake Champlain! The instant I saw it, the whole monster-rising-from-the-deep scene suggested itself. The rest was all location details -- Newport, Vermont, and Lake Memphremagog, where the climax takes place. A lovely woman named Nancy Cook, who I have never met, lives there, and was a huge help with details via e-mail. A Plymouth State University professor, and dear friend, Dr. Lew Overaker, was also a huge and constant source of support when no one, logically, should have cared about this unwritten book.

 

     7. What challenged or surprised you about writing this story?

My answer would be disingenuous if I said, "Good people, even clerics, can and do behave badly," because I dealt with that idea in my writing long before this book, but it still holds true. Here in the West, we like guys in white hats and guys in black hats, unlike say, the grey-area characters in Eastern culture. When an Oskar Schindler comes along -- a man who genuinely likes and parties with Nazis, then risks his own life to save Jews -- we're mystified. I worked briefly, and insignificantly, in the film industry in Hollywood, and was struck by how amazed, and perhaps delighted, film folks were when notorious shit-heels, like actor Klaus Kinski or producer David Merrick, would actually do something nice or decent. They'd talk about it for weeks. I guess I'm intrigued by a dichotomy most prefer to dismiss.

 

     8. What did you enjoy most about writing this story?

The lofty and the low. It was gratifying to try and put some of the beautiful theological theories of Thomas Merton, who I consider basically a saint, into a piece of light entertainment. Maybe get somebody somewhere to consider that achieving the highest level of material acquisition isn't really much of an accomplishment in the big picture. And I always get a kick out of writing about food and sex, probably because I like reading that stuff, not to mention actually indulging -- Norman Mailer and Ian Fleming are two favorite masters in that area.

 

      9. Which character was the easiest to create and why?

This was an eye-opener. I assumed, stupidly, that I would use the 38-year-old priest, Father O'Toole -- a man having a crisis of faith and a self-destructive eye for female beauty -- as my mouthpiece (I was 50 when I started writing the book). As the chapters started collecting, I realized with shock one late night that I had more in common with Sissy, the 40-year-old, jaded, hard-drinking adulteress. She was actually saying what I felt. I'm divorced, and never had any children, but I've spent fifteen years teaching teenagers. Some readers  have been critical of me for making Sissy so mean and dismissive of her own kids. My defense was that that was how I treat my students on bad days in class, but surely being a teacher and a father are two very different things, thankfully. I've had at least a few mothers tell me on the sly that they thought Sissy's ghastly maternal behavior rang very true for them. Never fathers. The majority of American men don't read novels. I had a Headmaster at one private school I taught at for years near Boston actually say to me proudly, "I don't read fiction." He also failed to understand the basic, simple essentials of absurdist drama, completely confused by the Existentialists, who he had clearly never read. He was the Headmaster of a college prep school! Now, what are we supposed you do with that kind of ignorance?

 

     10. Which character would you most like to meet and why?

George, because men and women like him hardly ever exist. He undergoes an instant metamorphosis: from a shitty piece of work to a man too good for this world. I knew before I even started writing the book that George would have to die at the end. His kind is, of course, transcendental, even with God looking over us. I think I'm probably now that saddest of Christians -- a lethargic Deist. My Catholicism almost exists as an adjunct to my spirituality. I believe God made us and loves us, but perhaps He or She (the Almighty certainly has no gender -- what a disagreeable idea!) cut us loose some time ago; perhaps we're one of God's experiments that haven't worked out too well. I absolutely don't believe that God decides that a Nazi war criminal will die in comfort in South America at 90, while a 5-year-old girl in Wisconsin dies slowly over two days, having fallen down a well. No theology can explain or justify that horrific mystery. I pray, but I pray to connect with my faith. I do not necessarily assume that God is listening, and I have no complaints there. I'm guessing He's busier with more important matters. A priest once said to me, after too many drinks: "We created religion; God didn't."

 

      11. Did you ever consider having the story told by another character?

My first two novels (at press time, still unpublished), were written in the first person -- I did this, I saw that -- very easy for me, and very self-absorbed, which suited me, natch. I decided with Holy Fool, which began and ended as my SNHU Master's thesis, that I was damned well going to write at least once in the third person. Novelist Katherine Towler was my first mentor in the MFA program, and she said, not unkindly, but right off the bat, "You keep switching perspectives! Don't you get how this is supposed to work?" Here I was, the big shot in his own head with three stage plays produced and two screenplays optioned, and two novels written, like I thought I was Proust, and I realized I didn't know shit about a basic principle like sustained perspective. Katie was very patient with me, probably out of pity. She's a marvelous writer. And a nice person. Hi, Katie!

       12. Why did you start writing novels?

I arrived in L.A. straight from Emerson at 22, with a Story Editor job for Roger Corman at New World Pictures. I got that gig because the great writer Arthur Weingarten happened to be the father of Tara Weingarten, a girlfriend I cherished in Boston, and Arthur had a good deal of influence. I was intellectually up for the job, but emotional immaturity and a hell-rake determination to luxuriate in the Hollywood Scene, Circa Early '80's undid all, which served me right. Tara's been a big success as a writer, and Arthur just returned to California after living in England for decades. Arthur kindly put me up in London in 1996, when I couldn't even see straight (drugs, booze)t. When the screenplays went nowhere, I returned to New Hampshire and wrote three produced plays, two of which I'm immensely proud -- and they went nowhere, too. No O'Neill Festival, no productions in major cities, no grants. I worked my ass off for five years attempting to get those plays produced outside of New England -- no dice. So I turned, in solitude (like May Sarton) to writing novels. I actually signed for the first, A Pound of Flesh, with an NYC agent, who sent it to these august houses like Little, Brown, St Mark's, Penguin, Knopf -- I said, "Are you nuts? This is a dopey trade paperback, at best!" And sure as shit, they all wrote back, "We think this a fine book, blah blah blah, but we can't quite figure how to market a novel predicated on Rasputin's dismembered penis." Lovely letters. I still have them. My next was The Ghosts of Swallowtail, about a haunted girls' prep school, based on my seven years teaching at the very-much haunted Woodward School for Girls in Quincy, Massachusetts. For that one I signed with an L.A. agent, who is now in jail (so I guess the less said, the better). I wrote Holy Fool for my SNHU Master's thesis, and TouchPoint Press was nice enough to buy and publish it. I would write for the theatre again or move back to L.A. in a heartbeat, if there were a truly good reason. But my joke is I'm moving back to poetry -- the form I started writing in as a teenager. Actually, why call it a joke?

 

       13. What do you want your audience to come away with after reading your book?

 

Maybe an appetite for good food, a desire to make love, and as playwright Arthur Miller put it, to perhaps question the integrity and value of a national philosophy that espouses that one can "…Touch the clouds by standing on top of a refrigerator, waving a paid-up mortgage at the moon, victorious at last." There has to be more to our brief time with each other than that.

Kenneth's book is listed on Amazon's website under "Holy Fool Kenneth Butler";

You can find Kenneth at: fictionbyken.com

Author Interview: Jim Yonker

 Buster Gaines, a naïve, newly minted high school graduate in need of college tuition money ventures out into the world on his own and aboard the Texas Eagle in St. Louis. There he begins a summer adventure in 1966 working as a switchman in the Texarkana rail yards — an often thrilling but always dangerous job. He finds companionship with railroaders who accept him as one of their own and soon he discovers the thrills of being free to make his own decisions.

Immersed in the racially charged setting of the mid-1960s, Buster doesn’t seem to understand the intractable code for social behavior operating in the South and finds himself at odds with it. He tries to befriend an older black railroad employee, but when warnings against fraternization are ignored, the stationmaster decides to punish him and arranges a transfer to the much rougher rail yards of Shreveport, Louisiana. Preceded by his reputation as a “ @#!*% lover,” Buster finds he has been sent to a world alien to him. He is confronted by the contempt of the district railroad superintendent and quickly learns he has no acceptance among the members of his new crews. Their disdain for the young outsider soon manifests itself in acts of ostracism and defamation — and ultimately physical confrontation. Cherishing his job as a railroader while fearing for his safety and even his life, Buster must persevere and adapt to the reality of being alone in a hostile world.

An Interview with Author, Jim Yonker

1.Where were you when the idea for this book came to you?

Actually, I was lying in bed! I had retired after many years in my career with the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole and kept feeling the urge to begin writing. I didn’t really know what I wanted to write about, it was just that itch to create something in writing. I considered writing about my experiences as a parole officer and parole administrator and kicked that topic around for a while. It just wasn’t doing it for me though. I decided I wanted to step outside of that experience and to write about something else instead that was near and dear to me. So, that one night while I couldn’t seem to get to sleep, my rambling thoughts drifted, for some reason, to the summer of my high school graduation and how much it seemed to change my life. The next thing I knew was that I’d landed on my topic for my first book ─ a semiautobiographical novel.    

2. What makes your book unique?

Well, I suppose what sets it apart from others is that it’s a coming of age tale told by a white teenager from the North who discovers the adult world, the adult southern world, while working a summer job for college money during the waning Jim Crow era in the South. If there are any stories similar to this, I’d really love to read them. It was a sad, yet historically fascinating facet of our history and I’m always interested in learning about history.

3. Who is your primary audience?

When I was writing the book, I wondered how well it would “play” among southern readers. At the time, I didn’t really know. I wanted it to appeal to that segment of the country because I thought there would be a large market for it down there. After it was released. I contacted various people in the Texarkana area, people who were in positions to publicize the novel and get word of it to many others. They were immediately very taken by the notion of a book being written that prominently featured their community, but after reading the detailed synopsis of it, their interest vanished. I guess it shows that in spite of the fact that the story took place nearly fifty years ago and it generally portrays the people there in a favorable light, they do not wish to be reminded of historical facts and that time in history. No one, though, specifically told me that and it’s entirely possible they had other reasons for not wanting to get behind the book.

I believe the book has an appeal to baby boomers, those who actually were around during the 1960s and who could recall certain events of that time. This group, also, came of age in the 60s and can relate to details of teenage life specific to that era.

Since the story’s background is the railroad, it holds appeal to all those who love all things railroading. I tried to put just as much detail in the novel about this background that railroaders and others with an interest in it would find what they wanted. 

4. Why did you choose this particular setting to tell your story?

      This setting, the railroad and Texas and Louisiana, were things I had personally experienced and were of course essential to the storylines.

5. What draws you to this genre?

      I am a fan of fiction generally, historical fiction, and southern fiction.

6. What kind of research did you have to do?

I did a great deal of fact-checking my memories through online research, visits to Texarkana and Shreveport, interviews of people in both locales, and research (with the generous help of my brother Rich) in historical archives at Texarkana College.

7. What challenged or surprised you about writing this story?

To be honest, the story flowed quite easily on the whole once I began writing it because I was using my own experiences and life as a template to go by. That was the true-to-life part of it! The blending of fiction into it, though, took a bit more effort. I had weave fact and fiction into the main storyline and at times struggled a bit to keep it all interesting and focused in the direction of the conclusion.

8. What did you enjoy most about writing this story?

It allowed me to relive many parts of this three month little segment of my life. Many memories came back to me the further I got into it and the more research I did. I found a joy in recording events, in telling details associated with my time in the South that I couldn’t have felt in simply thinking back on those days or simply telling someone about them.

9. Which character was the easiest to create and why?

Four characters with the railroad were probably the easiest simply because they were the ones I remembered the most about. Dick, the crew foreman, was indeed a kind and welcoming soul; Percy, the engineer, was a funny, engaging, and unique man who gave me fond memories I still carry; Bull, a fellow switchman, was a composite of good people I worked with; and “Toad”, the foul car man encountered one night along the tracks in Shreveport, was an actual maintenance worker I had a serious run in with.

The Rita character developed freely as did the Sylvia character because they were also drawn from actual people in Paris and Texarkana, Texas.

10. Which character would you most like to meet and why?

I believe this would be Bull Tatum. He’s a kind and gentle soul with somewhat of a murky past who is apparently trying to make up for some of the things he did years ago. He’s very fondly regarded by his fellow railroaders. He’d do anything for anyone and he stands up for what he believes in. He’s the kind of guy you’d just like to hang out with on a Friday night in the favorite watering hole. Percy Bates also would be a guy I’d like to reconnect with again. I’d love to sit on the bar stool between Bull and him and listen to all the stories from their rich and sometimes troubled pasts.

11. Did you ever consider having the story told by another character?

No, I never considered it. None of the other characters would have brought the same history to the story. It is, after all, the young man’s conservative, northern life that’s changing over the course of the summer.

12. What do you want your audience to come away with after reading your book?

A very good question. Maybe it’s that the readers learn a little about our country’s history, about the 1960s and the racially turbulent times, and what it was like for a teenager to step into the real, adult world back then.

13. Many debut novelists write from their personal experiences. How much of Southern Passage is based on that?

               A: I’ve been asked that more than once and what I’ve answered is “several parts of it…I’ll let you decide which ones!”  

Jim's Links:

http://touchpointpress.com/bookstore

Southern Passage - Kindle edition by Jim Yonker. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Author website -  http://t.co/sz5RACmc2b

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31271881-jim-yonker

https://twitter.com/47JimYonker

Author Facebook link - https://t.co/AlQrj4v8HP

 

Author Interviews: Mya O'Malley

Intent: Mya O'Malley The Calm After the Storm

3/5/15

Mya O’Malley – The Calm After the Storm

The storm of the century raged through the northeast, causing destruction and despair, millions were left without power and hope. Weeks later, countless people were still devastated by the destruction of Hurricane Sandy, Emma Riley among them. Determined she didn’t need the help of a man, Emma was convinced that she could brave the aftermath of the storm on her own. That is, until Jake came into her life. After having suffered heartbreak and embarrassment, Jake Mack, a utility foreman, volunteered to travel north from small town, Georgia to assist with the aftermath of the storm. Jake was decidedly done with women. But he didn’t count on meeting Emma or falling in love so quickly. Can he trust this woman or will his past get in the way and ruin the relationship with the one woman he truly loves? 

Author Interview with Mya O'Malley

1. Where were you when the idea for this book came to you? It was after Hurricane Sandy, when I was without power for over a week when the idea for this book materialized. One day I thought about an interesting idea; what if a utility worker from Georgia who came to help restore power fell in love with a girl from the northeast?

           

            2. What makes your book unique? I feel that this book is unique because many people experienced Hurricane Sandy and can relate to the setting. This is a contemporary romance in which Jake comes from small town, Georgia to help restore power in the New York area. He falls is love Emma, a career- minded woman from New York.

            3. Who is your primary audience?  I would say that my primary audience for this book would be women of any age who are looking for a romantic story with some family drama and interesting subplots.  

            4. Why did you choose this particular setting to tell your story?  I experienced Hurricane Sandy and was amazed that utility workers from down south would put their lives on hold to help out. I thought that it would be the perfect setting for a love story to unfold.

            5. What draws you to this genre? I love romantic stories, romantic movies, you know name it.  I also love a story that leaves the reader with a happy feeling.

            6. What kind of research did you have to do? Some of the research included looking into data related to Hurricane Sandy, the gas shortage and geographical information.

            7. What challenged or surprised you about writing this story? The storyline involving Jake’s ex-wife was challenging to write. My hero’s ex-wife struggles with her own personal issues, she has an extremely flawed character.

            8. What did you enjoy most about writing this story?  I loved writing this story. I enjoyed creating a positive love story out of a challenging time.

            9. Which character was the easiest to create and why? The character of Jake was one of my favorites. He is a selfless, caring man, father and boyfriend. Even a man as wonderful as Jake struggled with his conscience throughout this story, he tried to put his own happiness and needs to the side for the sake of his family and moral obligations. His relationship with his three- year old daughter was seamless and lots of fun to write.

            10. Which character would you most like to meet and why? Without a doubt, Jake. Jake’s an amazing man who would do anything for his loved ones.

            11. Did you ever consider having the story told by another character? In The Calm After the Storm, there are two main points of view; Emma and Jake both have a voice. I also decided to give Ginny, Jake’s ex-wife a voice throughout some of the text. Ginny had her own demon; her behavior and actions spilled over into Jake and Emma’s story.

 12. What do you want your audience to come away with after reading your book? I hope that my readers come away with a happy feeling after reading this story. This story imitates true life, with all of its conflicts and choices, some of which my readers may be able to relate to.  In the end, I hope people come away with the feeling that you can only get from a good love story.

amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Calm-After-Storm-Mya-OMalley-ebook/dp/B00T7278XE/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423108893&sr=1-6&keywords=mya+o%27malley

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1nec_-ACjU  

*Social Media-

*Website:  Mya O'Malley-Website

           

www.myaomalley.com

*Facebook:  facebook.com/myaomalley

*Twitter:  http://twitter.com/@MyaOMalley

Blog- myaomalley.blogspot.com

Pinterest- Mya O’Malley-  www.pinterest.com/myaomalley

Tumblr- myamalley.tumblr.com

*email- mya@myaomalley.com

Tsu-   https://www.tsu.co/Myabooks

Tags- #contemporary romance, #new release #romance #clean romance #chiclit #women’s fiction

Amazon Author Page- amazon.com/author/myaomalley