It’s the last day of #RomancingSeptember
Today our guest is Marcia Meara and her book Wake-Robin Ridge
Where is your home town?
I live just north of Orlando, in Sanford, Florida.
How long have you been writing romance?
Two years. My first book, a romantic suspense entitled Wake-Robin Ridge, was published in August, 2013. Since then, I’ve published two more novels, and my fourth is coming out in September.
What is your favourite sub-genre of romance?
Romantic Suspense. I want lots of danger in the mix, brave people fighting against terrible odds, and prevailing in the end. I do like some Paranormal Romance, too, and I even prefer that my Urban (and regular) Fantasy have a strong love interest going on. The love story will pull me back every time.
Where and when is your book set?
Wake-Robin Ridge is the name of a fictional mountain in the Chimney Rock/Lake Lure/Asheville area of North Carolina. The novel deals with two women who each lived in the same log cabin on the ridge, nearly fifty years apart, so part of the story takes place in the 1960’s, and part takes place in 2012 and 2013.
Introduce us to Sarah Gray.
ME: I’ll let her do that.WRR: “MY NAME IS Sarah Gray. I’m a thirty-five-year-old library cataloging and research assistant. For the better part of the last decade, I‘ve spent at least forty hours a week in a tiny cubicle, hidden deep within the Leland Walker Historical Library in DeBary, Florida, reading and cataloging old, crumbling manuscripts, diaries, business records, and journals.”ME: She’s bored and restless, and when one load of manuscripts too many comes along, she has an epiphany. SARAH: “As I sat at my desk on a Friday night, staring at the pile of work I’d been assigned at the last minute, my frustration with my lot in life reached critical mass. I snarled. I ranted. I pouted. I even teared up pitifully, wailing the eternal cry of losers everywhere, “Why meeee? I made up my mind on the spot. I would do it! I would move to Wake-Robin Ridge.”
And then the truth dawned. I had no strings to speak of. I could leave. And I knew exactly where I could go—the one place I loved more than anywhere in the world. There, I could live a simple life surrounded by the beauty of nature, and the peace and quiet of the deep woods. I could write. I could write all day long, every day, if I wished, with no one to worry about but myself. I could quit marking time at a dead-end job, and live the life I was meant to live.
Who is MacKenzie Cole?
ME: That’s exactly what Sarah Gray wonders when she meets him for the first time, a chance encounter, which occurs when he comes looking for his runaway dog, Rosheen. She checks him out, of course:SARAH: “Tall, maybe 6’3”, with glossy black hair curling slightly over his ears. Equally dark brows over unusually pale blue eyes, and very fair skin. Overall, he was strikingly good looking, with a sense of quiet strength about him. In his faded jeans and soft blue denim shirt, he looked perfectly at home in these mountains, as though he had been here a long time.”ME: But Mac has his secrets, and he won’t give them up easily. No one knows the reason he keeps to himself on top of his mountain, and even his curiosity about the beautiful woman who just moved into the cabin across the highway won’t make him any easier to talk to. (He does talk to himself and to his Irish wolfhound a lot, though.)MAC: “Sarah Gray. You are trouble with a capital T. Where did you come from, and why are you over there, all alone in that cabin? Couldn’t you have chosen some other mountain? Why are you here on mine?
Mac wondered why it was people started out so full of promise, and ended up so full of pain. And damn if he was going to let this woman interfere with the quiet life he’d made for himself, no matter how beautiful she was.
Is there a danger is lurking in the mountains?
But of course! When Ruth Carter ran away from her abusive husband, and settled in her little cabin in 1962, she hoped she’d found a safe haven. Of course, taking Lloyd Carter’s prized fire-engine red Chevy Impala, and his secret hoard of cash along with her, pretty much guaranteed he’d never stop looking for her. When he tracks her down, bad, bad things happen, and the horrifying repercussions are still being felt nearly fifty years later, when Sarah Gray moves into the same cabin.
Tell us about the Blue Ridge Mountains as a leisure destination.
Both the Blue Ridge and the Smoky Mountains are part of the Appalachian chain, the oldest mountains on earth, and there is something utterly primeval about them. They are stunningly beautiful in all seasons, with their eroded, rounded domes rolling on as far as the eye can see. Deep forests, crystal clear rivers and streams, and frothing waterfalls lure visitors to them all year long, but autumn in the Blue Ridge is without parallel anywhere else on earth. A vacation spent in the North Carolina Mountains is sheer perfection, especially for nature lovers. Hiking, kayaking, birding, Chimney Rock Park, historic Asheville, the Biltmore Manor, and loads of history, everywhere you look, all add up to a fantastic time. If I could get my husband out from under the palm trees, I’d be living in a Blue Ridge mountain cabin, myself.
The people who call these mountains home are down to earth, friendly, and proud of their heritage. Long generations of settlers, primarily from Ireland, Scotland, and England have lived in these ancient hills since before the Revolutionary War, and many of their legends and superstitions (often Celtic in origin) are alive and well today.
Tell us what you are working on at the moment.
I’m currently editing my fourth novel, Finding Hunter, which is Book 2 in my Riverbend series, set here in central Florida. Book 1, Swamp Ghosts, was published in spring of 2014. Finding Hunter is probably the most romantic of my four novels to date, and instead of the deranged serial killer of Swamp Ghosts, it focuses on human tragedy and heartbreak, and how it impacts people in very different ways. Finding Hunter should be available in September, and though it can be read as a standalone, the main characters were introduced in Swamp Ghosts. I personally think readers of either of my series will enjoy the books more, if they’re read in order.I am also putting together my notes and research for my third Wake-Robin Ridge book, Harbinger, which deals with the Celtic legend of the Black Dog, a harbinger of death. In the Appalachians, the Black Dog is known as Ol’ Shuck, and if you see him, it means someone is going to die.
Where can readers find out more about you?
If you live in the Central Florida area, I’m frequently out and about doing Meet the Author events at various local venues, and would love to have you stop by and say hello. Sign up for my newsletter to get my schedule. The Write Stuff (Writers Helping Writers): http://marciamearawrites.com/Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marcia.meara or http://www.facebook.com/marcia.meara.writerEmail: mmeara@cfl.rr.com
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marciameara/
Twitter: @marciameara
Bookin’ It: http://marciameara.wordpress.com/
If you live farther away, look for me on social media here:
http://wordpress.us8.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=aab68cfc854e6c6a7da6ea831&id=b6c23fcd59
Drop me a line, or make a comment on my blogs any time. I love meeting new readers and other writers.
Wake-Robin Ridge Series
Wake-Robin Ridge: http://bit.ly/Wake-RobinRidge
A Boy Named Rabbit (Wake-Robin Ridge Book 2): http://bit.ly/ABoyNamedRabbit
Riverbend Series
Swamp Ghosts: http://bit.ly/SwampGhosts
Finding Hunter
Summer Magic: http://bit.ly/SummerMagicPoems
Rosie Amber 