Interview with Mary Martinez

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000026_00029]Tell us about yourself.

Well, that’s a loaded question. I have so many personalities, which one would you like to talk about first? Just kidding, sort of, I feel as if I belong to the family of each of my characters. Especially my Beckett family, I have walked their neighborhoods, visited their favorite places. They truly are real to me. Though it would freak me out, if I ever met someone who claimed to be one of them. So here goes, ME… I grew up in a small town in Utah the south part of the Salt Lake Valley. If you’ve ever watched Doc Holiday with Micheal J. Fox you’d be in the town I grew up in, not the squash part. I now live in a small town on the west side of the valley, and though it is growing way to fast it reminds me of the same movie. Small town America.

Together my husband and I have six kids, he has two girls and a boy, I have two boys and a girl. Now they’re all grown and we have eleven grandkids. We love it. We have papa and nana night every other Wednesday night. They all come over for dinner. It’s easier in the summer when we can sit outside.

We love to travel and New York City is one of our favorites, it helps that one of the kids live in Brooklyn. We love Venice, Key West, and Jamaica and many other places we have visited. This August we will be visiting London, England for a few days, then on to Edinburgh, Scotland. And last but certainly not least Ireland for ten days. That’s about it for me, I love family, friends, writing, and traveling.

Are you a full time writer or do you have a “day job”?

I wish I could write full time, but my husband is retired and one of us needs to have insurance and bring in an income. And that right now is, ME. I work for the state and if I have to have a job, at least I do like it.

What is your next project and when will it be released?

My fourth book of the Beckett Series. It’s titled Illusion and it is Reagan’s story. If all goes as planned it will be released at the end of June.

Can you list some Pros/Cons of self-publishing?

The biggest PRO is the control you have over everything. You have no one telling you that they don’t like what your character is doing. You have control over price, cover, length of story, etc.

The biggest CON is the fact that ALL books need to have a great editor and most of us can’t afford one. Luckily I’ve found someone that edits in my office. She edits for work, but she’s agreed to help me with my stories. Another CON is, sometimes you need someone to tell you that what your character is doing just doesn’t work. The time line is wrong, etc. That is why I have two critique partners and after my friend edits it, I have beta readers. Because no matter how good your editors, critique partners, etc. are, everyone is human and most the time something is missed.

What genres are you drawn to as a reader?

Thriller and suspense. I love a good Stephen King also.

What do you have planned for the future?

I am writing a middle grade with my three oldest grandsons when we started they were middle grade, hopefully we get it finish before they’re in college. It’s called History Mysteries. I hope to have it done this fall.

Do you or have you belonged to a writing organization? Which one? Have the helped you with your writing? How?

I belonged to Romance Writers of America and the Utah RWA if it weren’t for them I wouldn’t be where I am now with my writing. Although, right now I’m not a member, I hope to return someday.

muglogo2What sort of promo do you do? Do you have help?

I do the usual social media. But it seems that no matter what I do, my sales are about the same. I’m still looking for that magic promo tool. If anyone out there finds it, let me know! My new favorite is Pinterest. I’m still experimenting how to use it for promotion. Mostly, I just play on it.

Do you have any words of inspiration for aspiring authors?

My best advice to young authors, or any author, is to join a book club. Not one of those ones who read the heaviest book they can find, i.e. Catcher in the Rye. But those who just want to read a good book. When I joined my book club I never realized how beneficial it would be. I just thought it would be fun to read a book and then discuss over wine and dinner. Don’t get me wrong that is fun. But none of the other members are authors, they’re READERS. And they all have different tastes, it really helps me to see the book from a reader’s point of view instead of an author.

 

Here is a list of my links:

Web site: http://www.marymartinez.com/

Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Martinez/e/B006MWJ1T6

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Mary-Martinez/1375378959454858

Twitter: https://twitter.com/marylmartinez

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/marylmartinez3/ (My favorite)

Blog: http://marysbooksblogger.blogspot.com/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/102169317869219350490/102169317869219350490/posts

LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=63363650&

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTww3B2ofa11UPFrSe0WGAg

Mary MartinezBIO

Mary lives in Magna, a little town west of Salt Lake City, Utah. Together with her husband, she has six grown children, and five wonderful grandsons and five beautiful granddaughters. Mary’s youngest daughter had, the fifth granddaughter, beautiful Elizabella Grace on May 28, 2014! And that isn’t all the additions. Her son and his fiance had a baby boy, Keegan in November 2014. That makes 11 grandchildren!

Mary and her husband love to travel, especially to the Caribbean for relaxing, and Italy for the wine. With the experience from the exotic places she has visited, she is able to fill her books with colorful descriptions of cities, painting a colorful backdrop for her characters.

They are avid concert ‘Ho’s’! Yes, they pretty much want to do them all. They love outdoor amphitheaters the best and attend as many during the warmer months as possible.

Mary and her husband are also enthusiastic college football fans. They have season tickets to the UTES, University of Utah Football and they tailgate every game. They love tailgating so much, that they were married at a tailgating in 1999.

GO UTES!

Video Bio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLjL11hZHOA

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