Author on the Couch:

An Intimate Look Inside the Minds of Authors

(the story behind the storyteller)

Today I’m conducting a session with

Maggie Preston

MaggiePreston

GIVEAWAY!

Maggie is giving away a copy of her book SEX AND INSENSIBILITY. Just leave a comment and you are entered to win!

 

 

Me: Tell me about an experience that had a profound impact on your life.

Maggie: My daughter was born 14 weeks premature. One pound eleven ounces. 89 days in the hospital. I could do nothing but sit and watch her grow. I learned what true patience was all about during those 89 days.

Me: Sometimes I think modern medicine is itself a miracle. Without it your daughter wouldn’t have survived and be her own miracle.

What personality trait of yours helps you most an author?

Maggie: I’m a picker. I see something and go “why” and “what if.” When I’m sitting in the airport, I’m creating lives for the people around me.

Me: What personality trait of yours hinders you most an author?

Maggie: That trait that makes me pick apart things also makes me indecisive when it comes to choosing a path for my story. I over analyze and doubt and question and then sit there, staring at the blank page. Not writing.

Me: What was your high point as a writer—a time when you were happiest, on cloud nine, flying high? What happened?

Maggie: I was named a finalist in the Romantic Suspense category for the Golden Heart. I still remembershell, heart, cute the moment I got the call in my kitchen. The blood drained to my feet and I was sure they had the wrong person. And then at the ceremony they announced the winner (me!!) and the person next to me had to elbow me in the ribs and go, “That’s you.” I floated all the way home!

Me: Congratulations on being a Golden Heart Winner! Wow. So awesome.

We can’t talk highs without talking lows. What was your low point as a writer?

Maggie: After winning a GH I knew….just KNEW…I was on my way. But for 2 years it was still rejection after rejection. And then I made the finals again. I didn’t win but still, I hoped the 2nd final would be my ticket but it wasn’t. I quit writing the following year and went to grad school. I thought I was wasting my time and would never be published. But the characters in my head would never go away and one day I went to back to an RWA chapter meeting. I started writing again. It took me a few more years but I finally finished a long dormant story and now it’s being published.

Me: I’m so glad you didn’t give up. Congratulations on being published. That’s got to feel wonderful.

Which of your characters are you most like? Why?

Maggie: Lara Haley, the heroine in Sex and Insensibility. She’s someone who always did what others expected, even when it wasn’t what she really wanted. She didn’t want to disappoint them. That was me. Now I try to be more balanced but I won’t do something just because it’s expected.sexandinsensibility (8)

Me: What causes stress in your writing life? Why?

Maggie: I’ve never been very disciplined in my writing and now that I have an editor that’s going to expect a Book 2 and Book 3 in my series, I find discipline is very helpful.

Me: What’s your writer’s mantra? Why does that mantra speak to you?

Maggie: Just keep writing. Just keep writing. I’ve written every day since getting the email telling me I would be published. That’s what it’s about, isn’t it? Putting words on the paper.

Me: Tell me about your book SEX AND INSENSIBILITY.

Maggie:

Only a few things stand in the way of Lara Haley and Will Kenner finding their happily ever after: his ex-wife, her dead husband, three kids, two dogs, one kitten and a flaming bulldozer.

 

Me: Share with us a favorite paragraph from your newest release.

Maggie: Sex and Insensibility is a reunion story and I love stories of second chances. And this paragraph not only encompasses that desire for another chance, but our hope that the other person felt the same way.

“I see you still like your bikes.” I still remember that night.

“Some passions never die.” That was the best and worst night of my life.

“I’m surprised you remember me.” I’ve never forgotten you.

“Why are you surprised?” I’ve never forgotten you, either.

 

*Update*

Maggie may be a bit absent from today’s blog, but she has a very good reason. Today she’s moving to KOREA!!!! She’ll be in the air flying across the ocean and beginning a new life! Join me in the comments section to wish Maggie safe travels and a happy adventure!

Buy Links

Sex and Insensibility (MF) – Bookstrand

Social Media Links

twitter.com/maggie_preston 

www.facebook.com/maggieprestonauthor

www.authormaggiepreston.com

If you’d like to be an Author on the Couch, email me at abbieroads@yahoo.com

About the author: abbieroads