Interview with Loucinda McGary

I’d like to welcome our guest again today, Loucinda McGary. It’s a pleasure having you come back and visit us at Much Cheaper Than Therapy, where chocolate is plentiful and advice is free. So grab some chocolate and a lounge chair. Your therapy session has begun.

I understand you have a new release out called The Wild Irish Sea. Can you tell us a little bit about your fabulous new book?

Thank you so much for inviting me back to Much Cheaper Than Therapy! I’m so happy to be here and to give your readers a bit of info about my new book. The Wild Irish Sea is my third romantic suspense with paranormal elements. Like my first book, The Wild Sight, The Wild Irish Sea is set in the far north of Ireland, but this time on the rugged coast of Donegal which is in the Irish Republic.

My American heroine Amber O’Neill has a twin brother Parker with whom she has shared a mental connection all their lives. Parker is vacationing in Ireland when he inadvertently witnesses a murder and the killers target him. Amber receives his mental distress call and rushes all the way from California to the coast of Donegal to rescue her brother.

Once she is in Ireland, Amber enlists the aid of a reclusive Irish police inspector, Kevin Hennessey to help her find Parker. Also, to Amber’s great surprise, the mental connection she had previously shared only with her brother, she now finds she has with other people, especially Kevin.

The Wild Irish Sea is a very interesting title. How did you arrive at that name?

Actually, my editor came up with the title. She wanted something similar to The Wild Sight, so my working title was The Wild Mess. Since we couldn’t very well use that for the finished book, she came up with The Wild Irish Sea (even though the book is set on the Atlantic coast, not the coast of the Irish Sea).

What made you decide to write in this genre?

I’ve always enjoyed a bit of mystery and suspense with my romance, and I always loved the great old gothic romances of Victoria Holt, Phyllis A. Whitney, and Mary Stewart. When I decided to write romance, I naturally included a suspense element that harkened back to those authors I loved reading as a teen. Plus, I love a touch of paranormal, something that might conceivably happen (like mental telepathy or reincarnation), and included elements of these in all three of my books. My readers seem to love these little extra touches.

Where did you get your idea for this particular book?

Ten years ago, my niece gave birth to fraternal twin boys, the first twins in our immediate family. This sparked my interest in twins, and I read quite a bit about them. I thought it would be fun to write about a set of twins and decided to give them a ‘special’ connection.

What are your favorite paranormal research books or sites, and why?

Can’t really say I have a favorite. I read broadly and with online sites, I never quite know where I wind up. But some of those accidental discoveries have given me some great ideas and provided interesting twists in my story lines. The Niall Marker, which I stumbled upon while researching for my first book, went on to play a pivotal part in that story. Celtic legends about selkies provided interesting twists for The Wild Irish Sea, as did behavior studies of seals and sea lions.

Which character did you like writing about the most, and why?

I always love my heroes. After all, if I don’t love them, how can my heroine? Or more importantly, my readers? Though I must say that in this book, Amber’s brother Parker was a real scene stealer. I think his sassy comebacks and humor in the face of adversity are what makes him so appealing. Oh, and he was inspired by my own two brothers and their constant verbal sparring and one-up-manship. So far, everyone who has read any of The Wild Irish has commented on how much they loved Parker.

Tell us about how you develop your characters. Do you create character sheets, do interviews, that sort of thing? How does your research and/or world affect your character development?

I’m afraid I’m not so well organized that I write out character sheets and interviews. However, I usually know all kinds of things about my main characters and their background before I start writing. How do I know all this? They tell me, of course.

No, please don’t bring out the men with the strait jackets! Those voices in my head really are my characters talking to me. Generally they arrive with their names (first, middle, and last) fully intact and I have a pretty good idea what they look like. I do use Irish census data to help me with last names of Irish characters.

I also like to find pictures (usually of celebrities since those are readily available) that I think look like the image I have in my head of my main characters. But their personalities are definitely their own. For example, Luke Wilson physically resembles my personal idea of Parker, but his personality is based on my brothers.

How do you go about building your world if you use one? Do you use maps, charts or drawings?

I have been to Ireland, but I will admit that I have not visited the particular area (the northernmost point) where I set The Wild Irish Sea. I did look at a lot of pictures and descriptions of the area, and I always use maps so that I know the general direction in which things are located, and how far apart they are. However, in Ireland distance can be deceiving because their roads are small, winding, and very difficult to negotiate sometimes. So recalling my own personal experience in visiting a place is also helpful in portraying it in my prose.

Do you have any authors that inspired you?

As I mentioned above, Victoria Holt, Phyllis A. Whitney and especially Mary Stewart were great favorites of mine. Also, the incredible rich detail and characterizations in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series have been a wonderful inspiration.

What do you feel is the most effective promotion you have done for your book?

I HOPE it is my online ‘blog tours!’ This is the start of my third one and I believe it is a great way to get the word out. I’ve also been much more active on Face Book in the past year, so please, “friend me!”

What do we have to look forward to next?

I’m currently writing what I hope will be the first book in a series centered around a fictitious cruise ship line, Adventure Cruise Line. Since I’ve been on sixteen cruises thus far (number seventeen is booked in November), I’ve already done a lot of the “research” so I thought, why not use it? And I promise, this will NOT be your mother’s Love Boat!

Thanks, Loucinda!

Thank you again for inviting me and please pass the chocolate!

To celebrate her book release, Loucinda is offering a free autographed copy of The Wild Irish Sea (or either of her other two books, if you prefer) to one lucky commenter on today's blog. (please check the blog Monday night to see if you won. Chances of winning determined by the number of entries.)

She will be around all day today. I'm sure some of you have questions or comments for her, so please ask away...

Bio.
Loucinda McGary has two great passions: travel and writing. She has visited 47 states and 31 foreign countries, and likes to set her tales of romance and adventure in some of the fascinating places she has visited. Her previous books are The Wild Sight and The Treasures of Venice.

Check out author’s website at www.loucindamcgary.com

Buy The Wild Irish Sea at Borders, Barnes & Noble, and on Amazon.