I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!
Originally published October 11, 2012 for See Jane Publish
Q1. Tell us about your publishing journey.
Laying awake in bed as a kid, I got through the long,
dark nights by telling myself stories. My mother liked cafe curtains and my
room faced the street and people could see in,
so I shivered under the covers and gave all my stories happy endings. Later I got
full curtains and turned to romance. Soon I started writing the stories down.
Many many years later I started selling them.
I think my journey mirrors that of many authors. For
years I wrote a lot and worked on craft—taking classes and entering contests
and submitting and getting rejected—but I didn’t get serious about selling
until 2006. In 2008 I threw everything I did well, humor, sex, romance, action
and vampires into Biting Nixie, a
novel that I think sings, and sent it to The Editor. The Editor (or Agent or
Publisher) is the one you want to sell to with your whole heart, and to get her
interested you pull out all the stops including the 32 foot Bombard (pipe organ
stop that shakes whole buildings). The Editor bought four of my books and
started me on my career.
The journey isn’t over. I still get rejections,
and editors and houses change. But I keep learning, and most of all I keep writing
because that’s what I do to make myself whole.
Q2: What's the funniest thing to happen to you
along your road to publication and what was the most exciting?
Funniest: Getting The Email and thinking Yay! At long last, I know enough about
Writing to Get Published, then finding out I knew nothing about Editing, Selling Thy Book, Developing an Internet
Presence, What Makes a Good Cover, Writing a Tag Line, Giving a Pitch, Writing
a Blurb, Book Signings, Attending Conferences…I still grin at how much there
was to learn. ☺ And of course, I’m still studying craft each day to be a better
writer.
Most exciting: Hearing Donald Maass speak. He
gave a workshop on the breakout novel, full of solid, useful information, delivered
with such power that I’ll never forget it.
Q3: What has been the most challenging thing
related to publishing you've had to deal with on your journey?
Selling. To reach readers you have to sell. If
you go the traditional route you have to sell to an editor or agent or
publisher. If you indie publish you sell directly to the reader. But either way
your goal is to reach your readers
and that means putting your book and yourself out there. I’m a self-effacing
introvert (I enjoy people and have many good friends; it’s just that I get my
energy from ideas instead of parties), so getting out there without shredding
myself has been, um, interesting.
Q4: Who is your favorite author, and what are
you currently reading?
Author, as in singular? Eek. How can I choose
from Conan Doyle, Elizabeth Peters, Lara Adrian, Dorothy Dunnett, Rex Stout,
Sherrilyn Kenyon, J.D. Robb, Charles Stross, Janet Evanovich or Jim Butcher?
Right now I’m rereading David & Leigh Eddings’ Belgarath the Sorcerer, reading Janet Evanovich’s second Lizzie
& Diesel book, and I’m on the library’s waiting list for the latest Richard
Castle ☺
Q5: What's coming up next for you?
Does December 21, 2012 ring any bells? That date
features in Black Diamond Jinn (A Hot
SF/Fantasy Novella). “The Mayan Doom is real. Government witch Amaia Jones
has the spreadsheet to prove it.”
And I’m thrilled to announce that summer of 2013
will see the release of Beauty Bites,
the next book in my Biting Love series! Briefly—When top ad man Ric Holiday
says no to designing a campaign for the quaint city of Meiers Corners,
Scandinavian smorgasbord of a woman Dr. Synnove Byornsson is sent to change his
mind. Ric won’t go near the place because of an evil master vampire who put a
price on Ric’s head. But Synnove is gorgeous and sexy—and won’t take Ric’s no
for an answer. What’s a vampire to do when a woman like a bright summer’s day
comes along, and he’s desperate for sunshine?
Mary Hughes is a computer consultant, professional
musician, and author. At various points in her life she has taught Taekwondo,
worked in the insurance industry, and studied religion. She is intensely
interested in the origins of the universe. She has a wonderful husband (though
happily-ever-after takes a lot of hard work) and two great kids. But she thinks
that with all the advances in modern medicine, childbirth should be a lot less
messy.
Visit Mary at http://MaryHughesBooks.com.
Biting Oz
(Biting Love Book 5)
Real vampires do musicals.
Gunter Marie “Junior” Stieg is stuck selling sausage
for her folks in small-town Meiers Corners. Until one day she’s offered a way
out—the chance to play pit orchestra for a musical headed for Broadway: Oz, Wonderful Oz.
But someone is threatening the show’s young star. To
save the production, Junior must join forces with the star’s dark, secretive
bodyguard, whose sapphire eyes and lyrical Welsh accent thrill her. And whose
hard, muscular body sets fire to her passions.
Fierce as a warrior, enigmatic as a druid, Glynn
Rhys-Jenkins has searched eight hundred years for a home. Junior’s
get-out-of-Dodge attitude burns him, but everything else about her inflames
him, from her petite body and sharp mind to what she can do with her hip-length
braid.
Then a sensuous, insidious evil threatens not only
the show, but the very foundations of Meiers Corners. To fight it, Junior and
Glynn must face the truth about themselves—and the true meaning of love and
home.
Warning: Cue the
music, click your heels together, make a wish and get ready for one steamy
vampire romance. Contains biting, multiple climaxes, embarrassing innuendos,
ka-click/ka-ching violence, sausage wars and—shudder—pistachio fluff.
Black Diamond
Jinn (A Hot SF/Fantasy Novella)
Have sex, avert doom, save the world.
The Mayan Doom is real. Government witch Amaia Jones
has the spreadsheet to prove it.
Amaia is a research wizard living uncomfortably in
the shadow of her famous Venus-magic parents. Then she discovers the world is
ending. Tonight. Her bulldog of a boss not only refuses to believe her, he
won't give her the secret to calling the one force powerful enough to help—the
jinn. Amaia turns to her mental guardian angel, Rafe, the darkly handsome
presence who has comforted her since her parents died.
Rafe has a secret of his own. He's a black diamond
jinni, the deadliest and most powerful of his kind. An enemy is ruthlessly
using blood sacrifice to stoke Y12 public panic. But Rafe can't get into the
human realm to stop the Doom unless Amaia calls him, and she is threatened by
his scorching sensuality.
Amaia's guardian angel is a stunning jinni and suddenly
her job is far more complicated. Jinn take their pound of flesh in exchange for
magical help, but the only flesh Rafe wants is hers, taut with delight. Sounds
great, except Venus magic is what killed her parents' love. But with four hours
to go on humanity's darkest night, the only alternative to surrendering her
flesh may be surrendering her life.
This title contains explicit sexual language and may
not be suitable for all readers.
