Friday, January 11, 2013

Lisa Phillips interview with author Mary Moore



Hi Mary, welcome to Fliterary! We love making new friends.
Let’s sit together on the swings and you can introduce yourself:

Hi Lisa! I’m Mary Moore, thanks for having me today. I’ve been married to my husband, Craig, for 27 years and we have one “child,” our black lab, Darcy. We are originally from the Washington, DC area, but ten years ago we moved to Virginia in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. We have survived the culture shock J and now it’s our home.
I began writing about 17 years ago, but it was just for fun and just for me, so when we moved to Virginia, we just boxed up the stories and put them up in the attic. During a bout with breast cancer, I used the months of treatment to rewrite some of the stories and have been blessed on my recent journey to be published.
My debut novel, The Aristocrat’s Lady, that came out in late 2011 was a wonderful surprise. It won an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award and the Holt Medallion Award from Virginia Romance Writers, a chapter of the RWA. They were wonderful blessings on top of many readers that sent me notes about how the book touched them.

You have a new book out, what’s it about?
It’s called Beauty in Disguise. It’s an inspirational historical romance set in Regency England. The heroine, a lady who has come down in the world, must make a living. But she discovers that women will not hire her as a governess or companion because of how beautiful she is. They are afraid their husbands will be tempted by having a beauty in the house. So she creates a disguise that allows her to become invisible to men. She settles into life as a companion to a young lady until the only man she ever loved comes as a guest in the house and eventually recognizes her. Their journey takes them from misunderstanding and anger to forgiveness and renewed love.
Where can we buy it?
Actually, for the month of January, it will be in every WalMart in the country. Love Inspired Historicals have their own shelves within the Harlequin line of books. It will only be in stores until the end of January. But it is, of course, available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and Christian Book Distributors.com.  You can also download it to Kindle and Nook.

If we invited your main character to sit with us, how would she/he react?
She would be very nervous. Since she has donned her disguise, she is very uncomfortable as herself. She was too well known when she was in London for her Season and she is always afraid someone will penetrate her disguise. She is actually very intelligent, compassionate and has a wonderful sense of humor. I think people will like her very much.

What would they say? What advice would they give?
If she felt comfortable, she would be able to tell you about the bad choice she made when she was young that brought her to this point in her life. But she would not complain; she would own the mistake and talk to you about the children has been able to love as a governess and the good that she did for them as well as the good they did for her. In terms of advice, she would definitely talk about following your faith and the direction of those that love you to keep from going through the hardship she has. She would tell you to follow your heart!

If any one person from history could sit with us, who would it be and why?
That’s easy. I would love to sit with Jesus for lots of reasons. I would thank Him for dying to save me. I believe if I were in His presence, I would want to just worship and praise Him. But I admit, I’m human enough to think I would want to ask Him a million questions, a million why questions, and I’d probably be amazed at the big picture which only He could ever see.

Why did you choose to be a Christian writer and what does it mean to you?
Originally, my stories were secular, but they were clean.  The only Regencies I was able to find those many years ago were beginning to get pretty explicit. But as I mentioned earlier, while I was sick I felt like I could share some of my experiences and the ways God has been involved in my life through those stories. So I rewrote them with a message. It has been wonderful because it has taken the pressure off of monetary success and/or critical acclaim; I pray readers might be able to find a message in the story that speaks to them. And I love hearing from readers who have been touched in some way.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
You know another thing I learned in the years between writing the original stories and now? Experience! When I reread them, I was surprised at how shallow and immature they really were. I would advise an aspiring author to be sure and create a depth that is real; and if you can use personal experience to accomplish that, all the better. The other thing I would say is to persevere. When my first story was rewritten (and rewritten and rewritten) it still took almost a year to find an agent, then 6 months to a year to prepare the proposal to pitch to publishers. There are many other steps once you get a publisher interested, so you can see that even when your story is the best it can be, it doesn’t happen overnight. But write the best story you can then persevere until your dream comes true.

Where can we find you on the web?
You can contact me and find out information about the book at www.marymooreauthor.com or you can email me at mmooreauthor@swva.net.  I also have an author page on facebook.com/mmooreauthor and you can tweet me at http://twitter.com/sugarbean1020.

Thank you so much, Lisa, for having me today. I really appreciate this opportunity!


5 comments:

Missy Tippens said...

Sounds like an amazing story, Mary! What a great premise.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post. I tweeted.

Mary Moore said...

Thanks so much guys!

SUSAN said...

I read Beauty in Disguise on Kindle this past week. I enjoyed very much the main character. She truly needed to see God's forgiveness in her life. The story showed how God is in control of our lives and waiting for us to accept His love and to forgive ourselves. Wonderful book! Thank you, Ms. Mary for the awesome truth shown by this story. Susan

Jessica Nelson said...

Gorgeous cover and I like the premise! Thanks for the interview. :-)