Writers' Wednesday: An Interview with Marie Treanor

Welcome to Writers' Wednesday! Today I'm featuring a fellow Samhain author, Marie Treanor. Enjoy!

Hi Marie, and thanks for joining me today. Can you tell us a little about your background?

I was born in Scotland where I live now with my husband and three kids. I'm a history graduate and a librarian by profession, although I haven't worked in libraries for about eight years! I stopped work when we moved out of the city and travelling became too difficult (good excuse, eh?), and then my youngest child was born so I've never felt inspired to go back. I love having the opportunity to write.

When did you first begin writing? Was there an event or moment in your life that triggered your desire to write?

I began about as soon as I could hold a pencil! But I suppose the trigger to actually trying to get published, was my last job, which I hated. In my innocence I thought I could earn an alternative living from writing :)

Ah, I remember those innocent thoughts too! OK, tell us about your latest writing project or published title.

My latest book is Gothic Dragon, a sort of historical fantasy/not-quite-time travel romance, featuring a dark sorcerer hero. Basically my heroine stumbles into his world through a gothic novel, and falls in love with him. Well, so would I - have you seen the book's cover? :)

Wow, you're right - I love it! So how do you go about developing your characters?

Actually, they sort of develop themselves :) Usually they're the beginning of the story, and as I think about them, they become clearer. But I think they're only fully developed when I've actually finished the story!

What do you find most difficult about writing? What do you find most exciting or rewarding?

Hmm - I think I find the promotion most difficult, because basically I want to be writing. And yet there's less point to writing if you don't tell people the books are out there :) The most exciting is when the characters change the story for you, and the most rewarding when readers tell me they've enjoyed reading my books.

Great answers - I tend to agree on all three counts! But how do you balance writing with the rest of your life?

With difficulty! I don't work as many other writers manage to do, but I have a four year old daughter and two older kids who keep me busy! I like to spend time with my family and friends when I'm not writing, so basically it's my housework that suffers :)

When you write, do you use the computer or compose by hand, oral dictation, or some other method?

When I began, I wrote by hand and then typed it up - it was quite a useful self-editing process, but now I find it quicker to both write and edit on the computer. For one thing, I don't have to decipher my own hand-writing :)

Marie, thanks so much for giving us a peek into your writer's life today. Readers, Marie's novel Gothic Dragon releases on July 22 - make a note on your calendar...and in the meantime, visit her website to read an excerpt or find out more!