1. Who or what inspired you to become a writer?
I’ve always loved making up stories. I’ve always loved writing long, long letters to friends. As a University teacher I wrote six books in my field, all still in use. When I retired it was a short step to writing fiction.
2. How long did it take you to write Delighting In Your Company?
Delighting In Your Company took me about six months. It was my second (publishable) book. The first, The Memory of Roses, took me two years. And as for the one before that, it is better not mentioned. It was not up to publication standards, and it took longer. I think of that one as my learning curve in the world of fiction.
3. While writing how many times do you go back and rewrite a plot?
The plot is never exactly rewritten. I write a synopsis and pretty much stick to it—but my plots do evolve. That is they become more complicated as I flesh them out and as the characters take over. In the end, for me, characters control plot.
4. You run into a bookstore, where do you go first?
The travel and maps section. I’m a travel junkie. I’m always looking for the next exciting place to go.
If I’m looking for a book to read, the Romances and the mysteries. Anything set in an exotic location. Also thick historical dramas.
5. How many books in a month do you tend to read?
Four or five. I used to read many more, but writing takes most of my time now. I read almost exclusively on my Kindle now, so book stores are becoming a thing of the past to me. I love being able to get a sample chapter on my e-reader and then deciding whether I want to purchase the book or not. It’s a great way to select books.
6. In all the books you've read. Who is your most favorite character and why?
Heavens what a question! There are so many I’ve loved. But maybe King Arthur in Theodore White’s retelling of that legend in “The Once and Future King”
7. State 5 random facts about yourself.
1) I love to swim—hope to swim in all the world’s major seas before I die (except for the FAR north and FAR south)
2) I love to cook. I do the fancy stuff. I’m a devoted follower of Julia Child.
3) I don’t like veggies. I’d rather eat ice cream
4) Beaches rather than mountains. I love sunsets over the water
5) I’m fundamentally quite superstitious. I don’t step on cracks or look at the new moon through glass. And that’s just for starters…
8. Your favorite Genre?
I truly don’t have one. I read everything and anything.
9. What are you currently reading?
A set of books by Daniel Silva featuring an art restorer who is also a secret agent. They’re filled with wonderful characters and great yarns. I just finished his “The English Assassin”
10. What is the best book you've read?
Really off the wall here—The Love Poems of John Donne. Right up there with The Song of Songs Which Is Solomon, from the Bible. Incredible poetry about love in both cases.
11. Any new projects coming up?
Yup. Sonata, a novel about a love affair between a world class concert artist and a Vancouver cop will be out in the fall, and I’m just starting on a tale of intrigue and betrayal,set in Germany, Austria and Hungary, called, Romantic Road.
Here’s your chance to market your book. Describe it. And why readers should pick it up?
Delighting In Your Company is a paranormal romance with time travel. Just out of a messy divorce, Amalie Ansett travels to the small Caribbean Island of St. Clement’s. There she meets and falls in love with handsome plantation owner, Jonathan Evans.
The only problem is, Jonathan died two hundred years ago, murdered.
He wants Amalie to return to the past with him, to discover what happened.
If she does as he wishes, and sets him free, she will lose him forever. If she doesn’t, she’s stuck with a ghost for a lover.
Where you can find author Blair McDowell):
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlairMcDowellWriter
Twitter: n/a
Book Trailer on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVNFrYFP2Ws
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13582542-delighting-in-your-company
Website: http://www.blairmcdowell.com
Blog: http://blairmcdowellauthor.blogspot.ca/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/111235595606875813906/posts
About the Author:
I started to write soon after I found my first pencil. But I began to write for publication about 30 years ago -- professional books. I wrote six of them, all still in print and still in use. Only lately have I turned to fiction.
I'd have done it a lot sooner if I'd had any idea how much fun it was! I’ve lived in many different places. The US -- Certain cities call to me. I love San Francisco and Seattle and the wonderful Oregon Coast. Australia -- among the most open welcoming people in the world, and a wide open young country with incredible land and sea scapes, with amazing animal and bird life right out of science fiction.
Canada -- HOME. The place where I belong. I travel a lot. I usually spend the month of October in Europe, Greece or Italy, and the winter in a little house I built many years ago on a small non-touristy Caribbean Island. I have worked and studied in many places -- Hungary, Australia the US and Canada, and have spoken in most of the States and Provinces as well as Taiwan and various cities in Europe.
I enjoy being surrounded by cultures other than my own. I enjoy my own as well -- but variety is indeed the spice of my life. I keep busy -- and I love my life. I love meeting the people who come here to the west coast of Canada and stay in my B&B. I love traveling after the tourist season is over.
And I love writing. My interests?? Music, especially opera, reading everything in print, and Writing. And walking on the beach and swimming. At one point I had hoped to swim in every major sea and ocean. I've realized that may not be possible in one lifetime -- but trying has been fun!
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