Today we get to learn a little more about Young Adult author
Mary Carter.
Before we crack on with the interview, let's have a look at Mary's debut novel,
Breathess
17 year old Charlie is broken. In more ways than one. Struggling to cope
with rejection from her distant, heartless mother; and an incident that
should never have happened, panic attacks and black outs have become
her new normal. Until she meets Tyler, an angry boy with a questionable
past...who just happens to be on the run from someone trying to kill
him. The same someone who murdered his father. Caught up with Tyler
running for his life, Charlie begins to see life differently, facing her
fears and falling for a boy she almost loses.
****
MY:
Welcome to the blog! Could you tell us a little about your journey to becoming
a published author.
MC: First of all
I’d like to say thanks so much Mary for hosting me on your blog, I appreciate
your generosity, time and encouragement.
My
writing journey began soon after I left full time work as a school counselor
due to ill health. Overnight I’d gone from a dual role as welfare coordinator/school
counselor to barely able to get out of bed. Frustrated with the way my body
refused to co operate with my mind on the days when it wasn’t full of fog, a
friend suggested I buy my self a new laptop try my hand at writing from my bed.
I looked for online for freelance jobs and found a content site to sink my
sadly lacking a place to work in Intellect and started writing articles about
my experiences in counseling, family, travel which really helped fill the void.
Then I thought of all the young people I had worked with over the years and
some of the issues that they had to deal with and the idea of writing a YA book
evolved with two thoughts in mind; to maybe touch on one of the most
significant issues young people deal with today Anxiety and because I love to
escape into books it needed to be a story not a teaching manual for issues. 60K
+ words later and ‘Breathless’ is here.
MY:
Wow! What a journey you have been on. Could you share what your average ‘writing day’ look like?
MC:
I’m one of the crazy people who always get a creative spurt in the middle of
the night or early hours of the morning so mostly I’m up writing when I’d like
to be sleeping, but mostly I try to write at least 3 to 500 words a day.
MY:
Are there any authors that you particularly admire? And if so, why?
MC: I’ve always read many contemporary fiction and love a good crime or historical
fiction but in recent years with my focus on Young Adults these are some of the
authors I admire…apart from the obvious Dystopian Hunger Games and Veronica
Roth’s Divergent series, Gayle Forman and Steph Perkins rock the romance genre.
However E Lockhardt’s We Were Liars, Rainbow Rowells Eleanor and Park and Jandi
Nelson’s I’ll Give You the Son & The Sky is Everywhere are hands down my
fav OS authors in recent years. Naturally I read and love many Australian books
and authors i.e. Brilliant YA writer’s Melina Marchetta (Looking for Alibrandi,
The Pipers Son, Jellicoe Road) the awesomeness of Craig Silvey’s (Jasper Jones)
and Fiona Wood’s (Six Impossible Things, Wildlife)
Rebecca
James (Beautiful Malice, Sweet Damage, Cooper Bartholomew is Dead)
Ellie Marney’s Every Breath
series and Paula Westins Rephraim angelic series and Kristin Krauths
provocative Just A Girl. There are just too many to write about here but two of
my favorite English authors are Rachel Abbot, crime adult author (The Back
Road, Only the Innocent) and Jill Mansell’s contemporary adult romances A Walk
in the Park and Rumour Has It, and right now I’m kinda stuck on a historical
Fiction series The Du Lac Chronicles and seriously hanging out for the second
book, having read and loved the first, they truly are a must read…
MY:
I quite like The Du Lac Chronicles as well!! Lol! What are you currently working on?
MC:
I am currently working on the sequel to Breathless Out of Darkness, hence the
need to get words on paper. As well as three other stand alone novels in
various stages of completion.
MY:
If you could give advice to an aspiring author, what would it be?
MC:
I’m not qualified to give advice to other writers as such as I’m only a
beginner myself, but can I just say to have a go.
MY:
Authors are often portrayed as being cat owners who drinks a lot of coffee. Is
this true for you?
MC:
Ha ha! Well, I don’t own a cat, just two dogs, so I guess that rules me out of
that first part of the box, but am definitely a coffee drinker, and a bit of a
coffee snob as well, has to be a certain brand of bean and brewed myself or
bought from the limited selection of cafes available near where I live now.
MY:
What does your ‘perfect’ day look like?
MC:
Having moved last year from the big smoke a perfect day for me now is enjoying
the awesomeness of the spectacular sunrises in the Byron Hinterland of NSW
Australia where I live; tending my orchard currently laden with all types of
citrus fruit ready for a winter harvest; thinking and planning about what I can
grow here on our 8 acre paddock; and enjoying a slower paced existence in a
country ideal where I can write any time I want to.
MY: That sounds perfect.
What is your biggest vice?
MC:
Definitely social media, so stops me from writing…and I have to admit a good
red…can be too good, if you know what I mean.
MY:
If you could meet anyone from the past, who would it be and why?
MC: I’ve always
wanted to meet my grandmother who I’m named after. I didn’t know her as she
died when I was one but I know she loved me. I think I could have learned a lot
from her. As far as writers go I’d love to have a good chat to Enid Blyton
about those folk in that tree..so many questions??
MY:
Where do you see yourself in five years?
MC:
Oh well that’s easy in 5 years time I will be reaping the spoils of my numerous
best selling books flitting from my Notting Hill terrace to my apartment in
Paris while holidaying in my holiday house on the Mediterranean...or not! Most
probably enjoying my farm life, raising cattle, selling boutique and native
citrus while continuing to write for my small cluster of fans dotted around the
Globe.
Thanks
again Mary, it’s been loads of fun. Cheers
MY: It has been a real pleasure.
Where can I buy this fabulous book?
Amazon
Amazon
About the author
Mary
Carter is currently, a freelance writer with the content site
HubPages.com. She can be found under the name of carter06@HubPages.com.
She has published her first short story 'High School Blues' and has
completed her first Young Adult novel 'Breathless' the first of a series
which is now available for sale as an e book on Amazon books.com mm
carter. She has also recently written her second stand alone YA novel
which is going through a final edit, and is happily working on several
other novels simultaneously. Mary is a previous Adolescent school
counselor and works part time as a Child and Adolescent Therapist. She
and her husband and son have recently relocated to the breathtakingly
beautiful Byron Bay hinterland.
Useful links.
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