Mary Deal

I was so pathetically shy as a child that when called upon to say or do something, I froze. All the thoughts in my head just wouldn’t come out. Peer pupils thought I was dumb!

I wrote a lot in high school. I loved tests with essay questions and usually got straight As with essay tests. I wrote every chance I got, even kept a journal “to talk to” because I still never mixed much. We lived miles and miles out in farm country so after school journal club meetings and similar activities were out of the question. Writing allowed me to express, but it wasn’t till after my teen years that I began to wonder if I could get some writing published.

Ooh, lots of things! I’m also an oil painter and photographer with two online galleries. I love to sew, walk/hike/photograph, ballroom dance (the original old-fashioned ballroom dances), yoga, Tai Chi, workout in a gym. I love working in a garden. When we lived in Hawaii, I had up to 15 apple-banana trees in the corner of the yard and planted and maintained lots of Areca palms for a wind break, not to mention the flowers. Now that I live in Scottsdale, I have planters strategically placed on the patio wall and ground and grow flowers. We have a homeowner association landscaper, but I usually take care of trimming the flowering bushes and cactus in the front gardens.

I didn’t grow up an avid reader. We lived in a rural setting. Dad worked from sunup till sundown. Mom didn’t drive so we had no way to get back and forth to the library. I’m not what you would call an avid reader. These days, I beta-read for select prolific authors. I do enjoy their stories. Yes, I do read for pleasure every chance I get, and a whole lot more in my adult life. Still, I cannot be called an avid reader in the sense that I live and breathe reading. I need to write my own stories too.

While living on the island of Kauai in Hawaii, I was pulled out into deep water by a rip current. Having learned ocean swimming while years earlier living in the Caribbean, I knew not to fight the current, but to swim across it till I was free of the pull. Once resting on the beach, my mind continued to be filled with ocean escapades I previously experienced.

I had already written numerous short stories by this time and felt I should write about the current life-threatening episode. Doing so, I realized I should have written about an episode in the Caribbean. The second novella in the Legacy trilogy, Adrift, was awarded all 10s by every reader in Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope Studios. Their editors held the manuscript/story for a year before releasing it saying they could not do anything with it. I don’t know what they had in mind, but it was Coppola’s crew who considered it worth looking at.

Once I wrote two stories, Promises and Adrift, greatly fictionalized, I almost had a book length manuscript. But how would I combine a story set in the Caribbean and one across the continent in Hawaii? Then I hit on a solution. It wasn’t the stories that I joined. It was the characters. I then created a third story bringing the two heroines from Puerto Rico together on Kauai in Hawaii. That meant going back to each story and placing both characters in each other’s story. The third story became “Reunion.” Surprisingly, the three stories are not always about the two women, but about a small boy whose life is severely affected by the actions of these plots.

Most people answer truthfully because they pay a lot for therapy. They want help. People can outright lie under hypnosis but there are simple cues and responses that a good hypnotherapist can detect. Part of the therapy would be to address why the person lies and cheats themselves.

At one time, I had two mystery plots for which I couldn’t seem to create exciting and meaningful endings. That was not like me. I know the beginnings and endings of my stories, though they may change in the writing. I left those two plots hanging while I worked on research for my big paranormal Egyptian suspense novel. Then I went home – back to the Sacramento River Delta – for a combined class reunion and book signing. A dear former classmate asked, “Why don’t you set a story here in the Delta?” As soon as he asked, my two plots slammed together in my mind. I could turn two unfinished plots into one exciting mystery and make it a thriller. And yes, I also had an ending at that time.

During the years when I received an award from the Eric Hoffer Book Awards, they sent a whole bunch of Winner stickers. However, my book won an Honorable Mention. When I questioned why they sent me Winner stickers, they said that to them, every book that won a placement was a winner, that I should just use the stickers as a winner. I believe I kept their email somewhere, but they are now breaking down the categories.

The Logline or elevator pitch is: A powerful story of transcendence from effects of child abuse and fear of men to joyously falling in love.

This is NOT a story of abuse. It’s about a level-headed young woman overcoming the lingering emotional scars of abuses she suffered many years prior. Often what we read can help us, or others. This story is not preachy. By reading about Rachael, the protagonist, and her methods of overcoming her traumas, so do we learn how others may overcome their abuses. It’s fiction but offers real-life solutions.

It’s set in the beautiful Sea Cliff area in San Francisco. We learn how Rachael puts the fragments of the best parts of her life together to negate all the bad to make her whole.

I faced no challenge. I had a friend who was considering spreading her husband’s ashes, but she was haggling over the best place to do it. Her indecision was way too much, way out of hand. I believe she didn’t want to let go of the ashes, so couldn’t decide on a place. This made me think about keeping things simple. My Muse is wonderful. She told me that we should pick a place with special meaning and scatter the ashes there. At that moment, the story popped into my mind. It’s completely fiction.

In this heart wrenching but satisfying story, a man and woman had spent many hours rowing and picnicking out on a lake. I even saw the landscape from the perspective of the boat. I saw the tall white steeple that these story characters used to mark where they were in the center of the lake. So, the woman rows the boat by herself, takes her beloved husband’s ashes out to the middle of the lake, just about where the tall white steeple comes into view….

I have many author acquaintances, all online, several of which are very close supportive friends. Since I work nearly 15 hours a day, I do not mix locally, nor are there any stores here to sell my books, another reason I don’t mix.

I have twice in the past attempted to collaborate with another writer. Both times, my thoughts and readiness moved faster than they were able to keep up. In one instance, I would write a chapter, the other person the next, and so on. I got tired of waiting and waiting and waiting for the next chapter; a couple of times only to learn how lackluster and errored filled it was. When I write, the story pours out almost faster than I can key. I should write alone.

All the tips in this volume were either what I learned to help myself or they are in response to others asking questions. If I didn’t have an answer, I would research. In doing so, it helped both the other person and me.

In conjunction with Question 7 above, I had gone home for a class reunion when the total book idea jelled. In doing so, I spent some time exchanging emails with former classmates to help revive some memories. I also revisited the area a couple times more for additional book signings at one of the Libraries. During those trips I covered many miles to find the correct location for the big fictional Victorian house. Other locales were necessary to firm up, as were some current day descriptions of the area. I believe in getting small details right, like the current uniforms the Deputies wore as opposed to when I remembered them. Details like that were necessary in the story because of the time span that takes place.

Dozens of story plots sit in my PC in outline or rough note format. I want to write them all. I had made a list of the order I thought they should be written. However, as new stories pop into my mind and are placed among the others, the order changes. Now I simply allow my Muse to kick out details of the next story that I should write. That is how I identify which one takes precedence.

I continue to write stories for my award-winning Sara Mason Mysteries. I had thought to end that series with the third book, but find I have two new stories that could fit the characters in that series. I also have another stand-alone story about a mysterious Garnet. I’ve held this story in mind since I found a huge garnet while rock hunting on Ruby Mountain in Colorado ages ago. The story is demanding to be written. Then, of course, I also write short stories and flash fiction, as well as poetry, all begging to go to book formats.

To receive an Amazon Bestseller award is symbolic of successful promotion. Promoting is what sells books and Amazon is all about numbers of sales. Of course, an award does trigger increases in sales. Beyond that, receiving any award or accolade tells me that my promotion efforts are bearing fruit.

In December 2017, I joined AllAuthor but wasn’t active right away. I had recently moved from Hawaii to Scottsdale, AZ, slowed down physically by recovering from open heart surgery. Now we have lots of remodeling work going on in the home we bought. Also, I have been nearly overcome in the process of rewriting and polishing eight books for republishing with my new publisher. I also have some personal responsibilities that take me away from writing. Once I began to see the benefit of being active on AllAuthor, I began to make use of some of the offerings. I still do not know the extent of all I can do on this site. However, everything so far has helped me breathe new life into my promotions. With me, learning everything available is a matter of how much time I can allot to this job or chore or responsibility. I am sure AllAuthor has more opportunities of which I’m not yet aware.