Welcome Author Shirley McCoy to our Garden Interviews

Hello Shirley

Tell us about you and your books.

Do you plot or let the story unfold as you write? I always plot my story out first using note cards and a character building document. Then, as I write, the story does unfold a bit as I add, subtract, refine. I will say, I do have a clear vision of where I want to end up, the basic steps to get there and what I want to say.

Do you have set times during the day that you write? If at all possible, I write in the morning. I work my day job four days a week so I generally get up pretty early and write when my mind is fresh and I feel most creative. This works for me, but everyone I think has their own favorite time of day 

What is your favorite book you’ve written and why? My favorite is The Crystal Flame because I love the idea of fire and ice and I also feel my writing has improved over time. I have been able to refine my skill and that makes me proud.

What tips would you give a new writer? I would simply like to pass on the best advice I have run across over the years. To paraphrase Nora Roberts, you can fix a bad page. You cannot fix a blank page. So, write. Also, I once heard, and I cannot remember who said this first, but you should write the book you want to read. I myself would say to simply persevere and if writing fulfills you, keep at it. It’s a long and sometimes hard road but so rewarding. 

What are your current projects? My current project is called Mirror World and is a book about a girl trapped in an alternate world behind the mirror and the one guy who sees her and helps her escape. I can’t wait to finish it!

And for a little fun...

If you were going to commit the perfect murder, how would you go about it? So, I could not resist this one! I once got to hear Mary Manheim, a forensic expert, speak to a group of writers including myself. Of course, because we are writers, this very question was asked. She said, do it out in the woods or some other very isolated place if at all possible and leave the body. Then, and this is the most important part, TELL NO ONE. Not nobody, not no how. Telling someone is how many people get caught. So, the goal is to do as much as you can to make sure the body is not discovered for as long as possible because the longer it goes undiscovered, the less forensic evidence there obviously is. So, if I were ever going to try to commit the perfect murder I would follow this advice from an expert in the hopes of not getting caught. 

Do you laugh at your own jokes? I do! Everyone who knows me personally knows that I laugh at my own jokes, which are sometimes funny, other times not so much. Often my friends laugh with me, mainly because I am amused by my own jokes. 

What makes you cry? When I see others hurting, be they family, friends, strangers, animals, I get very upset. I hate to see others in pain, especially emotional but also physical. I often even cry over fictional characters because I empathize. Often this happens because I see something in their situation that I can relate to in my own life, this situation could be a very happy or very sad one. For example, (spoilers to follow) I bawled over the season finale of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist! It was so sad and I felt so much for the characters.  

If you came with a warning label, what would it say? My warning label would say: Caution, she’s sweet… until she’s not. I can and will be the sweetest person you ever want to meet until you do something I do not like. It takes a whole lot to make me angry, however, and it is almost always justified, so on the rare occasions when I do get angry, I get really angry. 

Who's more fun, bad boys or perfect gentlemen? Or Bad Girl or a lady? Like L.M. Montgomery’s Anne Shirley, I like guys who could be bad but aren’t. I like that little bit of danger and power, but I want someone intrinsically good.

Where can we find you on social media?

https://shirleypmccoy.com/

https://www.facebook.com/shirlmccoy50/?ref=bookmarks

Twitter: Shirley McCoy@Scifigirl20

And on ACX as a narrator! https://www.acx.com/narrator?p=A389FFH4R2PNCX

Download The Crystal Flame on Amazon and other online retailers.

https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Flame-Shirley-McCoy-ebook/dp/B073MR7482/