Meet Mae Clair

Hello everyone! Today I have the distinct pleasure to share an interview I did with the extremely talented author, Mae Clair! Please join me in giving her a warm welcome!

Interview with Mae Clair

Currently residing:

The beautiful state of Pennsylvania

Savannah: Hello Mae and thank you so much for stopping by today!

Mae: Thanks for having me *swallowing down a jittery ball of nerves* This is the first interview I’ve done, so please excuse me if I spontaneously combust. I’m excited to be here!

Savannah: First of all, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Mae: Um . . . let’s see.  I’m married to my high school sweetheart, work a day job in real estate marketing and have been writing since I was six. I’m a hopeless dyed-in-the-wool romantic who loves an HEA but who has a passion for myth, mystery and anything with a spooky edge.

Savannah: A little birdie told me that you have a book coming out later this year titled Weathering Rock can you tell us more about it?

Mae: It’s my first published novel so I’m excited about it and hope others will be too. The genre is romantic suspense with time travel and paranormal elements. My hero, Caleb DeCardian was a union officer during the Civil War. Shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg he’s thrust forward in time, along with his rival, Seth Reilly. Reilly, who is a werewolf, was once Caleb’s closest friend and has cursed him with lycanthropy.

My heroine, Arianna Hart, teaches American history and has particular interest in the Civil War. She begins to piece together Caleb’s past and, ultimately, gets caught in the battle between him and Seth. There’s more to the time travel element but I’m hoping most of that will come as a surprise to the reader so I’ll let that thread dangle. J

Blurb for Weathering Rock…

Drawn together across centuries, will their love be strong enough to defeat an ancient curse?

Colonel Caleb DeCardian was fighting America’s Civil War on the side of the Union when a freak shower of ball lightning transported him to the present, along with rival and former friend, Seth Reilly. Adapting

to the 21st century is hard enough for the colonel, but he also has to find Seth, who cursed him to life as a werewolf. The last thing on Caleb’s mind is romance. Then fetching Arianna Hart nearly runs him down with her car. He can’t deny his attraction to the outspoken schoolteacher, but knows he should forget her.

Arianna finds Caleb bewildering, yet intriguing: courtly manners, smoldering sensuality and eyes that glow silver at night? When she sees Civil War photographs featuring a Union officer who looks exactly like Caleb, she begins to understand the man she is falling in love with harbors multiple secrets--some of which threaten the possibility of their happiness.

Finding a decent guy who'll commit is hard enough. How can she expect Caleb to forsake his own century to be with her?

Savannah: How did you come up with the title and the story?

Mae:  In my book, Weathering Rock is the name of an old home built in the mid-1800s. The property has a key role in the story.

Strange as it sounds, I originally came up with the name when asked to provide a list of potential streets to the real estate firm I work for. Over the years, we’ve developed several new home communities and all of those projects have roads that need naming. It’s something I love doing - - naming streets. 

We didn’t use “Weathering Rock Drive” but I liked the sound of it, so I tucked it away for use in a novel. The story itself evolved from my passion for history and myth, and the desire to spin a tale combining the two.

Savannah: What genre do you write? What made you choose that genre?

Mae: I write romantic suspense, usually with a twist of the paranormal. I’m a new author but, over the years I’ve experimented with everything from fantasy and sci-fi to horror and urban fantasy.  At some point I realized most everything I wrote featured romance as part of the story. It made sense to embrace the genre as a whole; especially given I could still retain the mythical elements I love to play with. 

Savannah: What made you want to become a writer?

Mae: Wow, that’s a tough one. Writing is something I’ve done since grade school so I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to write. The desire was always there. My parents were instrumental in instilling a love of books in me from an early age. We used to do weekly trips to the library, something I still look back on fondly.

Also, my father was an artist who dabbled in writing. When I was a kid, we’d sit outside on summer nights looking up at the stars. He’d spin tales of faraway worlds and encouraged me to do the same. He passed away when I was thirteen but his influence has never faded. 

Savannah: Do you have any sort of ritual when it comes to writing? For me it’s a good, strong cup of coffee within reach, okay, really it’s more like a couple of pots! LOL Also having some quiet time helps a lot!

Mae: Quiet time. I so need that! I’m fairly disciplined about writing so no rituals, but I definitely require alone time without distractions. Occasionally I’ll toss in an instrumental CD or I might scatter photos around my work area that inspire a visualization of my setting or characters.

Savannah: Do you struggle with anything in particular when it comes to writing?

Mae: Ugh! The opening scene. No matter how often I tweak it, I never think it’s good enough.

 Savannah: Do you have any contests, a give-away or blog hops going or planned for the near future?

Mae: Yes! Thanks for asking.  I’m participating in a July 4^th blog hop.  It runs from July 1^st through the fourth. Participating authors can be found at the Blog Hop Spot http://thebloghopspot.com/event-page/ along with a list of all the goodies, prizes and giveaways taking place. I’ll be awarding a $20.00 Amazon gift card. For a chance to win, visitors to my blog only need to subscribe by email and leave a comment. Details will be on my blog, From the Pen of Mae Clair http://www.maeclair.net beginning July 1st.  It’s my first hop, so I’m excited and hoping readers will drop by.

~ Now let’s get personal!

Savannah: Who is your favorite author?

Mae: Yikes!  That’s a hard one, but if I must choose, it’s the writing team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. They do a series of edge-of-your-seat thrillers featuring an unbelievably charismatic character named Aloysius Pendergast, a Special Agent with the FBI. I love that man!

Savannah: All-time favorite book?

Mae: Dang, you’re tough, LOL!  Okay, another hard one but, at the moment, I’d have to say THE TERROR by Dan Simmons. What a masterpiece! The paperback copy is 955 pages but I read it in a little over a week one summer, completely glued. It’s by turns beautiful, horrific, disturbingly graphic, lyrical, haunting, romantic and brutal. I’m in utter awe of the story, a fictional recounting of Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated expedition to discover the Northwest Passage in 1845. That might sound dry but, trust me, it’s anything but plodding. Two years later, I still can’t get the book out of my head.

Savannah: If you could ask any author a question, who would it be and what would you ask them?

Mae: Dan Simmons.  How the *&@%* did you ever write anything so brilliantly complex?

Savannah: What kind of music do you like?

Mae: I’m all over the place - - rock, folk, jazz, easy listening, new age. I’m currently in love with a band called “Blackmore’s Night” lead by Richie Blackmore (formerly of Deep Purple) and his wife Candice Night. They do a medieval-renaissance blend of music with a modern edge. It appeals to the starry-eyed romantic in me.

Savannah: Any hobbies?

Mae: American history (especially the Revolutionary War era through 1900), old photographs, old tombstones and, when time permits (i.e, a blue moon lines up with the eighth Tuesday of the fourteenth month on a tidal leap year) I might spend a few hours on digital scrapbooking.

Savannah: Craziest thing you’ve ever done? Don’t worry, no one will find this out, it’s just between you and me, and the hundreds of people who will read it here J

Mae: Wow. Let’s see  . . . I don’t know if it classifies as crazy but I remember FRYING a Chef Boyardee pizza with a group of friends after high school graduation.

We took a trip to the beach, got lost on our way there, and didn’t arrive until after midnight. We were starved by that time, and all we had was a frozen pizza in a cooler. Unfortunately, the oven in the hotel room didn’t work,  so we tossed it in a frying pan. Later that night, we had a group of drunken Legionnaires warbling off-key folk songs in the room above us at 3:00 a.m. 

It was a memorable night.

Savannah: Favorite food?

Mae:  Maine lobster tail. Has to be Maine. None of that warm water stuff or cold water imposters.

Savannah: The food you dislike the most?

Mae:  Any kind of red meat *shudder*  It has nothing to do with being health-conscious. Red meat has creeped me out since I was a kid.  

Savannah: I said I was getting personal, LOL.

Savannah: Now I’m giving you the opportunity to turn that tables and ask me anything you’d like to know?

Mae:  Your book, Oh Deer has such an intriguing premise.  I just bought it for my Kindle Fire and can’t wait to begin reading it. I love the blend of spooky themes with everyday elements. Let’s face it - - deer are pretty docile creatures. Where in the heck did you get the idea for the story and what made you choose deer?

Savannah: LOL, where to begin with that? Actually it’s a funny story, one of my very best friends called me late one night ( yes, alcohol was involved) and she proceeded to tell me about all the deer in her yard earlier that day…see, I lived in the north woods of Wisconsin for almost 20 years. Well, the story kind of grew from there; anyway, I have always loved the simplicity of the old black & white movies without all of the special effects movies today have. Same with a good, well written book. Really, your mind and imagination can scare the bejesus out of you—if you let it. And, so can every day normal things that most people don’t even pay attention to. Up north it’s deer…ya seen one you’ve seen them all J So after thinking about it while doing dishes one day, the idea for Oh, Deer was born! Most people who have read the story, say that when ever they see deer now, they think of Oh, Deer...which was what I was hoping for. If you look on the Oh, Deer tab at the top of the page, there’s more details about that call from Cindy J

Savannah: Well Mae you certainly have shared quite a bit of yourself with us. I wish you much success with your book Weathering Rock. Any final words for us?

Mae:  Just to say thanks again for having me. It was a pleasure to be here and to share a little of myself and Weathering Rock with your readers. I had a lot of fun and enjoyed the visit!  It’s been a pleasure!

Savannah: You can find Mae Clair at

Website
http://www.maeclair.com/

Blog
http://maeclair.net/

Twitter
https://twitter.com/#!/MaeClair1

Facebook Author Page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mae-Clair/219356774828949?ref=tn_tnmn

Goodreads
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8128047-mae-clair

Look for future visits from Mae Clair right here on Hugs & Nightmares, she’s awesome and I will be inviting her back to hang out again! Be sure to keep an eye out for future details on the release date for Weathering Rock!