Spinster's Folly Released today!

Tell us a little about your book, Spinster’s Folly.

It's the fourth book in my novel series, The Owen Family Saga. It’s Marie Owen's story. Believing she's getting too old to attract a husband in a location with few choices, she takes a desperate gamble that goes very badly wrong.

Here's the description:

Marie Owen yearns for a loving husband, but Colorado Territory is long on rough characters and short on fitting suitors, so a future of spinsterhood seems more likely than wedded bliss. Her best friend says cowboy Bill Henry is a likely candidate, but Marie knows her class-conscious father would not allow such a pairing. When she challenges her father to find her a suitable husband before she becomes a spinster, he arranges a match with a neighbor's son. Then Marie discovers Tom Morgan would be an unloving, abusive mate and his mother holds a grudge against the Owen family. Marie's mounting despair at the prospect of being trapped in such a dismal marriage drives her into the arms of a sweet-talking predator, landing her in unimaginable dangers.

Sounds like an interesting read, doesn't it?

Marsha Ward was born in the sleepy little town of Phoenix, Arizona, in the southwestern United States; and grew up with chickens, citrus trees, and lots of room to roam. She became a storyteller at an early age, regaling her neighborhood friends with her fanciful tales during after-school snacks. Her love of the 19th Century Western era was reinforced by visits to her cousins on their ranch and listening to her father's stories of homesteading in Old Mexico and in the southern part of Arizona.

Over the years, Marsha became an award-winning poet, writer and editor, with over 900 pieces of published work, including her acclaimed post-American Civil War novel series featuring the Owen family, “The Owen Family Saga.” She is the founder of American Night Writers Association, and a member of Western Writers of America, Women Writing the West, Rim Country Writers, and LDStorymakers. She makes her home in a tiny forest hamlet in Arizona. When she is not writing, she loves to spoil her grandchildren, travel, give talks, meet readers, and sign books. Visit her website at http://marshaward.com
and her blogs, "Writer in the Pines" (http://marshaward.blogspot.com) and "The Characters in Marsha's Head" (http://charactersinmarshashead.blogspot.com). Find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/authormarshaward.

Getting toknow Author Marsha Ward (her latest: Spinsters's Folly is coming out Nov. 10th!)

Q: Marsha, who are you as a person, versus as an author?

A: I am a hermit. I love solitude. I am very quiet, very shy. I'm quite uncomfortable in crowds because I usually end up a wall flower without anyone to hang out with. However, I'm also a ham, and have enjoyed being in musical productions through the years. I was raised in a musical family, and studied in college for a career in opera. That plan took a sidetrack, though, and never came into being. Instead, I've taught many subjects in many venues.

Q: When did you first know you wanted to be an author?
A: According to my older sister, I wrote from the time I could hold a pencil, and constantly talked about writing “my novel”. Although I believe her, I have no idea how a child so young as I was even knew about novels. Be that as it may, there's never been a time that I didn't have some kind of story to tell. I was editor of the 4th Grade class newsletter. About that time, I wrote a play dealing with the Acadian people’s migration. I wrote a couple of screenplays for a film club I was involved in during my high school years. And of course, my "Great American Novel" began its life in 1965. I didn't get the commercial I-think-I'll-actually-let-other-people-read-my-work bug until the 1980s, though.

Q: What was the pathway like for you to get your first book published?
A: I began my "Great American Novel" in 1965, when my train to opera stardom took a detour and I had to give up my full-ride music scholarship and come home to help out financially. I created a huge Southern family, wrote what was, essentially, a twenty-chapter narrative outline, and lugged it around with me for the next 35 years or so. Then my interest in writing commercially got very keen when I read a truly badly-written book. "I can do better than that!" I exclaimed, and hauled out "The Book." I eliminated some children, found some juicy conflict, read 150 books for background, and worked on the novel for a while. I took classes in fiction writing, and started sending the novel out to editors as I wrote the sequel. I even had an agent for a year. I was getting some good rejection comments, but no offers. I decided a re-write was in order. Then life happened.

My daughter was killed in an auto accident. My creativity dried up. It didn't come back, oddly enough, until my husband died. He was my biggest supporter, and I'm eternally grateful to him for that.

Then life happened again, and during a health crisis, I determined to leave published works behind, even if I had to publish them myself. I polished up The Man from Shenandoah and Ride to Raton. Because I didn't want to start a publishing company, I chose to use the cheapest services available from iUniverse, and get feedback from writers and readers I knew. When The Man from Shenandoah appeared, I hand-sold a bunch of copies, and lo and behold, other readers liked it! Several months later, I brought out Ride to Raton. Trail of Storms took a while to write, but was published in 2009. I'm working on the fourth novel about members of the Owen family, Spinster's Folly.

Fortunately, I survived the health crisis.

You are an inspiration to me personally. Thank you. Q: Were you ever discouraged along the way? If so, how did you deal with it?
A: I'm often discouraged. It's part of the writer's makeup. I have to muddle through, with a lot of prayer and communicating with other writers to get my balance back.

Q: What is your writing schedule like?
A: I'm supposed to have a schedule?
I fall into the category of “Writers who wish they had a more structured writing schedule.”

I hate that category (it includes me). Terribly hard to realize one is in a writing slump. Q: What do you hope readers will get from your books?
A: Actually, hope itself. I had an epiphany several years ago when I realized that I write to let people know there is always hope, and to show them through the experiences of fictional characters that they can get through hard times, even really, really terrible times, and find happiness at the end of it all.

One of the hallmarks of my fiction is fast-paced adventure, peopled with believable characters. Readers tell me when they're forced to put a book down they worry about my characters until they can read about them again. If I can take people out of their own worrisome lives enough to be concerned about fictional folks and see them through to a satisfying ending, then I've done the job of relieving some of their day-to-day stress. Isn't that what books are for?

Q: Do you ever experience a snag in a story, a form of writer's block? If so, how do you deal with it?
A: That terrible sound you hear is me groaning in agony. Yes, I encounter snags. My favorite way of dealing is to avoid and procrastinate, but that doesn't get the book written. The best way is for me to set very low expectations for myself so I don't self-sabotage. A lot of highly creative people have oppositional defiance, and I find that tendency is well-developed in me. To counteract it, my goal is often to write 25 words a day. I could do that on a sheet of toilet paper, right? Surprisingly, the tactic works.

Twenty-five words…one word or two? Yeah, I can do that…Q: Do you need absolute quiet to write? Do you listen to music when you are writing?
A: Right now, I'm listening to the music of my dryer drum turning. I don't need absolute quiet, but since I'm very easily distracted, music with lyrics is a no-no. I use instrumental music to get me in the proper mood for certain scenes that could be hard to write. Exceptions to the no-lyrics rule? Neil Diamond and "Sweet Caroline." That will put me in the mood.

(Me in the other room rummaging through old records)…Neil Diamond…Yes…Oh pooh! It doesn't have "Sweet Caroline" hey, but I can sing it! (Is this another one of my self- sabotage thing-ys?) Q: What kinds of inspiration do you use during your story creation periods?
A: Mindless activities are great for letting the mind wander while I accomplish a task. Taking a walk, taking a shower (water seems to inspire, or relax or something), getting enough sleep so the characters come to talk to me.

I'm all for the walk and even the water (okay, I go for a drink of water) but sleep? That sounds like one of my self-sabotage tools. Q: What’s your secret to making the characters in your books come to life?
A: I get to know them very well. I have a sheet of questions I fill in about them, and I also interview them. Then I don't overwrite them with too much description. I let their actions define them, instead. That way, the reader invests the characters with their own unique qualities and peculiarities, and they come alive in the reader's mind.

Okay, so I'm going to have to wheedle a copy of those questions…a worksheet perhaps…Q: What words of advice do you have for other writers who desire to publish their manuscripts?
A: Two words: Indie publishing. There's nothing stopping a writer from making the connection directly to the reader anymore. Get started by reading the blogs/websites of JA Konrath and Dean Wesley Smith. Google will find them for you.

Q: What are you working on now?
A: I'm doing research for the fifth novel in the Owen Family Saga, entitled Gone for a Soldier. This is Rulon Owen’s story of his experiences as an infantryman during the Civil War. We’re going to see what made Rulon the caring big brother you see depicted in Spinster's Folly. I’m very excited about the project. The American Civil War has had a deep pull on me since I was in high school. Let’s see how many errors I can avoid. Civil War enthusiasts are very picky.

I listened to a couple of enthusiasts at the library critique their costumes. Whew! were they picky! Q: Where can our readers go to find your books and order them?
A: All the online booksellers, such as amazon.com and bn.com, have the trade paperback books. The easiest way to find all my online eBooks is to go to my author pages at Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/marshaward and at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Marsha-Ward/e/B003RB9P9Q/
The eBooks are also on Kobo Books, and Diesel Books, in Canada.

Q: Any final words you would like to share?
A: I'll address this to writers: Believe in yourself, but learn all you can about writing, too. No first drafts are set in stone. Don't hang around negative people. Write at least 25 words a day. Listen to people to learn the flow of language. Find a good, encouraging group of writers who will show you the ropes. Read, read, read! When you start writing in earnest, find a good critique group. Reach down and help another writer along the way. Is that enough?

Blog: http://marshaward/blogspot.com

Website: http://marshaward.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/marshaward

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authormarshaward

Books on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Marsha-Ward/e/B003RB9P9Q

Ebooks on Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/marshaward

Winner!!!

 And the winner is: Meg Moseley
Meg's name was chosen by a random selection (I assign comments numbers and invited my hubby-who acts like he is allergic to anything linked to the computer, to choose a number. He has no idea who recieved what number and I never have a clue as to what number he will choose. Real scientific...not.)
Meg, please leave another comment with your email address on an older post here (which will require me to authorize it.)
And Congratulations!

The Next Big Thing

Yes, I've been tagged by the Huff Sisters all the way on the other coast. Really? Yes.

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS THEY HAVE ME ANSWERING.

What is the working title of your book? I'm actually working on two but they are both in the same Trilogy/series. The Trilogy/series title is The Talisman. Bk1 is Crisscross in Time and Bk2 is Spiritualist

Where did the idea come from for the book? Wow, that takes me back! One of the first novels I wrote and received a basket full of rejections on was Crisscross in Time but on my families begging, it has been revitalized, improved and now added to. The whole story is part of childhood fantasies, laying on my back on top of the haystack and wondering what if? I had no idea at the time that the fantasies would take shape in the form of a novel, or a trilogy/series.

What genre does your book fall under? This WIP is definitely a Time-travel Romance with my own personal brand of suspense.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? That is a tough one. I can say that in the defunked original I had Hugh Jackman in mind for the hero lead, Quinn and the actor (of please forgive me for not recalling his name) that played opposite Hugh as the character Jed in Oklahoma as his brother, Albert. The lead? As in little Miss Perry Mason wanna be? Myself…who else? Of course I was a lot younger and starry eyed then.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Honestly, I am still working on that for this one. It wouldn't be fair to try and formulate it at present because I am a punster writer and although I know my MC and what makes her tick, I haven't completely decided just how she will manage to reach her story goal. And her goal is rather unselfish when she hasn't found the thing she truly wants yet. (evil laughter)

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Neither, it is my hopes that my current Publisher will pick it up, but I have yet to have the first book polished to the level I personally demand before submitting.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? (scratches head trying to remember) That would be the draft that I submitted years ago. I'm guessing about a year. I tried plotting with it. It went quick, but I hated how it figuratively tied my creative hands.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I try not to compare. I know there have been a few that truly disappointed me, but I will bury those titles in my memory banks and just say, none really.

Who or What inspired you to write this book? The old red barn that was at my grandfather's place. It was two stories, moved about thirty miles on logs and with draft horses. Once served as a saloon and brothel.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? In Bk1, that old barn that I mentioned earlier is the saloon and brothel where at least one of the characters makes a living. It is where several of the scenes take place. I haven't decided if it will play an important role in Bk2 yet. I'm still developing logistics of how and why a middle aged woman would venture into time-travel.
(Update- the how is solved and the why, now on to the fun part of landing her squarely in the frying pan just to toss her into the fire, then the coals and back again. She may obtain her story goal, but it'll cost her...evil laugh...)

Don't forget that I am offering you a chance at winning a free e-copy of Dark Days of Promise, my debut novel. Leave a comment for a chance to win. Tweet of FB your friends, tell me about it at shassidy(at)comcast(dot) net(The time stamp will show me how honest you are.) the winner will be chosen from the comments and emails by one of my illustroius family members and posted here, so check back!

And the list and links to those I'm tagging--visit them next Wednesday!

Margaret L. Turley RN http://margaretlarsen.com/blog Margaret's Blog

David Lee Summers http://dlsummers.wordpress.com

Peggy Urry http://peggyurry.blogspot.com/

Part of Grace Filled Christmas Blog Hop

What makes Dark Days of Promise perfect for Christmas reading and gifting? Maybe it is the things that happen at Christmas, the anonymous giving, or the decorations, or the kisses under the mistletoe.

Thirty-four year old Vicki Laramie must learn to trust before she can love, but she might die trying.
While Vicki’s children grapple with the death of their father -- a man whom she’s successfully fabricated as loving, a lie her rebellious teenager recognizes -- she must find a way to support her family and find a role model for her boys. She never intends to fall for Staff Sergeant Chase, her best friend’s son, who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She’d much rather choose a safer man to love, but her children have a voice in the decision she makes. With two deaths to deal with, a suitor after her money, a rebellious son, and Sergeant Chase’s repeated attacks, she can only hope to survive the danger she faces. If she doesn’t, her children will be left without either parent.

Link to buy: http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-345/Dark-Days-of-Promise/Detail.bok