Marie Treanor

September 17, 2007

Marie Treanor Tells All

ST: Hi, Marie Treanor, welcome and thank you for visiting with us this week.

MT: Thanks for having me – I’m really looking forward to it!

ST: Tell us about yourself.

MT: Well, I live in Scotland, I’m happily married and I have three children, the eldest about to begin High school, the youngest at Nursery. Oh yes, and I write romance, mostly paranormal and often futuristic.

ST: Your latest novel, DEVILISH FANTASY, looks to be an exciting, hot read. I especially like gapping at the cover. Please tell us about it.

MT: Well, it’s more of a short story than a novel! My contribution to Changeling Press’s series of hot-and-short ESCAPES, it’s about Fiona, whose life isn’t going well. Neither is her holiday in the sun, so naturally she wishes for someone wicked to liven it up. What she gets is an actual devil, complete with horns and a forked tail, who turns out to be more fun than the rest of her life put together!

ST: How did you come up with the story line?

MT: It just popped into my head! Margaret, the owner of Changeling, challenged the authors to cheer up her winter with short, naughty stories about escaping to the sun. It seemed to work 

ST: And where and can we buy DEVILISH FANTASY?

MT: At Changeling Press

ST: You have several other books that are out now. Please tell us about them and where we can buy them.

MT: All my currently available books are at Changeling Press (www.changelingpress.com).

My newest one is actually Dragul in Darkness, the third in a trilogy about an ancient but secretive race of immortal shapeshifters. I’ve been really pleased with the reception of the first two, so I’ve got my fingers crossed for this one! With Dragul in Darkness I’ve tried to bring it all together on a high with hope for the future – since it’s all set in a rather scary world trying to recover from nuclear war. The war has changed much of humanity, producing powerful mutants who are feared as vampires, werewolves etc, and the Dragul books are all about how humanity, mutant and otherwise, deals with the intrusion of an even more powerful race into their world. All I’ll say here is that love shows the way

Actually, the Dragul books grew out of my original series with Changeling, City of the Damned, which introduces the post-war world, struggling with nuclear winter. City of the Damned is where mutants have evolved, at first feared by the rest of the city, but gradually becoming the leaders who will save humanity.
Oh yes, and the children conceived in City of the Damned become heroes and heroines in the Dragul trilogy. Here’s the other covers:

MT: Too much information? Sorry, I get carried away. lol.

ST: Not at all! I’m intrigued. In fact I think my VISA card is going to get an airing this afternoon. lol.

September 18, 2007

The Write Side of Life

ST: We’re back with Marie Treanor and ready to learn about this author with a passion for new and strange worlds. Marie, what made you decide to be a writer?

MT: I don’t remember ever deciding, I just always did it! Though I suppose I tried to get published because I hated my job and I wanted to have children. Naiively, I imagined I could stay at home, look after kids and write enough to make a living. lol.

ST: How long have you been writing?

MT: Since I could form letters. When I was five, I wrote a play and made my friends perform in it.

ST: LOL> Love your style. How many books have you written?

MT: Eighteen and a half. Eight are available at Changeling (mostly novellas, plus 2 short stories), with two more short stories coming this year. Seven novels and novellas which are not currently available due to Triskelion’s closing. One novella contracted to Samhain Publishing, to be released next spring. And a novel in progress.

Oh and as well as those eighteen, I have two long historical novels published under another name…

ST: My word you’re industrious. Which is your favorite and why?

MT: I honestly don’t know! I’ve loved them all at one point, and hated them at others!

ST: I know that feeling. lol. Do you find writing to be fulfilling? And in what way?

MT: Immensely. I suppose I love telling stories, and it’s so satisfying to get your characters walking across the pages! Partly, it’s escapism, of course, and partly I like being good enough at it to entertain people. Or at least I hope I am!

ST: You do, Marie. What’s a normal day like for you?

MT: Chaos!

ST: How do you find time to write?

MT: My sacred writing time is the two and a half hours my daughter spends at Nursery. But since the summer holidays have begun, I’ve tried to get up early to write – with mixed success! I keep falling back asleep before I can get enough coffee down me to keep me awake!

ST: Well, you keep sucking down coffee, lady. I want to read more of your work.

MT: There’s another pot brewing!

September 19, 2007

The Soft Side of Marie Treanor

ST: We’re back with the Paranormal Princess, Marie Treanor. Marie, please describe your writing space.

MT: Officially: a corner of my bedroom, containing an old bureau with a fold-down top for the computer, books on the floor held up by Indian-made book-ends. It’s by the window with a view of the sea.

In reality: My very often my cluttered living room or wherever the kids, especially my tyrannical small daughter, want me to be.

ST: LOL. I understand about children. Tell us what’s your favorite part of writing?

MT: When the characters start telling the story, even making me re-think it to suit them. Annoying but exhilarating!

ST: What do you absolutely hate about being an author?

MT: I don’t think I absolutely hate any of it! I’d like more money, of course, and I’d prefer someone else to do the promoting for me. But on the whole, I have to say I’m really enjoying it!

ST: In your opinion what’s the most important thing for a new writer to learn?

MT: Never to give up.

ST: Your website is lovely. I recommend everyone cruise over to www.marietreanor.com and check it out. How did you decide on the content and design?

MT: By knowing my limitations I asked Tina at the Romance Studio to design me something sensual and atmospheric, with a hint of the paranormal and the historical. I confess I love it!

ST: She did a great job. I hear your sweeties calling, Marie, so I guess that’s all for today. Until tomorrow…

September 20, 2007

The Soft Side of Marie Treanor

ST: We’re here with Marie Treanor ofr our last day of terrorizing her. lol. Marie, what does the future hold for you?
MT: Well, with Changeling Press, I have a short story, Swan Song coming out some time this year – about a cursed but well-endowed ballet dancer. And a short Christmas story called Christmas of the Damned.

And in the spring of next year, I’ll have a novella out with Samhain – Killing Joe…
In time, I hope to find new homes for the books currently tied up in Triskelion’s bankruptcy. In the longer term, who knows? I’m just enjoying the moment and feeling good.

ST: If you had one wish that would be granted, what would it be?

MT: That my kids have happy and healthy lives. Is that two? lol.

ST: How did you and all your publishers come together?

MT: With Triskelion, I remember I liked the variety of stuff they published, and so I sent them my first stories. Then, one of my editors left Trisk to go to Samhain and later invited me to submit there, which eventually I did.

It was Kyla Logan, my loop partner, who suggested I try Changeling Press, and when the right story came to me, I did.

ST: What’s in the works for the future?

MT: Well, I’m working on a sort of gothic/fantasy/historical/paranormal story just now – not sure yet how that mix will work out! And then there’s a ghost story I’d like to finish some time. And I have an idea for a naughty comedy, which may or may not come off.

ST: I sure hope it does. Sounds like an interesting read. Thanks, Marie, for spending so much time with us. It’s been a great week and I’ve enjoyed learning more about you. The very best to you in the future and keep us posted on your future releases.

MT: Thanks, Sloane, I’ve really enjoyed being here! And of course I’d love to keep in touch. Thanks for letting me ramble!