The Interview:
GRACIE: I’m
excited to have you here at The G-Spot, Marquete! Please tell us a little about
yourself (or a lot J) and how and when you got into writing?
MARQUETE: I am so happy to be here, Gracie! Thank
you for having me. My love of writing started when I was 14 years old when I
made small changes to the school play I acted in. It was during that time my
parents bought me a typewriter for Christmas. I loved typing.
At 17, my interest deepened. Being radical, and crazy over
fast cars and boys with long hair, I told my friends I wanted to write a heart
pounding, action/adventure story. At the same time, I read my first sexual Forum,
and thought ‘wow’, I can write an erotic action! Though my story didn’t come to
light right then, my erotic action, Siberian Jewel was born years later.
GRACIE: Is there
any one thing or person in your life that inspired your writing? Any one thing
or person that influenced the genre you write in?
MARQUETE: The one
person that has truly inspired me is Gracie C. McKeever! She is compelling,
passionate and accomplished in her work, life and writing. For a very long time, McKeever has been my
mentor. Desert Dreams and New Life Incognita are just a couple of
the titles from a long list of her work that influenced me. Since cyber-meeting
her several years ago, McKeever has provided perpetual encouragement.
GRACIE (fiercely
blushing and clearing throat): When did you get The Call and what was your
first published book?
MARQUETE: I received The Call in November 2010 from Beth Walker at Secret Cravings Publishing! I signed the contract! Almost 4 months later my first book, Siberian Jewel was published and released in March 2011! It was so exciting.
GRACIE: What do you know now about writing and the publishing industry that you wish you’d known before you started?
MARQUETE: Though writing and research can be fascinating, it’s a lot of hard work getting those words down in grammatically correct order. Accepting an editor’s censure and comments about one’s baby is not easy. Not to mention, as I had been previously cautioned by other authors, there’s a lot of work involved in promoting and marketing one’s books. However, in the long-run the best promotion an author can do is to keep writing and getting more books published.
GRACIE: Please
give us a little story behind the story and what inspired your Secret Cravings
Publishing release, Siberian Jewel.
MARQUETE: Siberian Jewel was originally called Jewel of the Sea and started out as a
short story I was writing for a contest at Dreams Press. The deadline came and
went for the contest. I continued writing my story however, but found my plot
wasn’t going anywhere. The basic outline was about a man living in a beach
house. He goes for a walk and finds an unconscious woman washed to shore in a
wooden boat. He carries the lifeless woman to his beach house. They get to know
each other and fall in love.
BORING flashed through my mind. So I gave it more thought.
Next thing, I made some provisions: instead of my hero, Cal Mallory living in a
beach house on the ocean, he was travelling on a yacht, and happened to be in
the Gulf of Mexico when Toni, my heroine (literally) crashes into Cal’s yacht
in her wooden boat, and into his life. Toni is running for her life because of
her dead prostitute mother’s secret.
Retrospection: Upon
completion I can now say my vision (from when I was seventeen) was coming to
life before my eyes!
GRACIE: What is
CEO, Cal Mallory’s Achilles’ heel and how did you go about stomping it?
MARQUETE: Cal is
very jaded, hard-nosed, presumptuous and he doesn’t easily trust people. When
he meets Toni he, of course, doesn’t believe her story about being chased by
thugs. He thinks she’s partying it up with the girls, and racing boats. After a
few heated arguments, Toni claims she has no idea why she is being chased, and
overhears some horrible things. Cal senses her streetwise sense, feels her
fear, and knows Toni is genuine and serious.
GRACIE: What about Toni’s character traits do you think makes her a perfect match for Cal?
MARQUETE: While
on the run, Cal puts together the pieces of why Toni is being chased, and more
and more they are getting closer to the truth. However, despite Toni’s tough
attitude, Cal sees her uncertainties. The chase draws out Toni’s emotions and
ugliest fears and jolts Cal’s heart, pulling out his deepest feelings for her,
and bringing out the protective bear that wants to keep her safe.
GRACIE: What did
you find the most enjoyable about researching Siberian Jewel, in particular and your stories, in general? What do
you find the most challenging?
MARQUETE: I
enjoyed spending Cal Mallory’s money to purchase his yacht, LOL. Purchasing it,
of course, was not part of the story, but it was fun shopping online, and
learning a bit about the yacht before putting it on the ocean.
I had to invent
Patty a fictional character, a former boatswain from the Navy to be Cal
Mallory’s assistant who helms the yacht. I loved researching Mexico and its
culture, and the Siberia diamond mines. I even asked my Dad for proper take-off
procedure in a single engine aircraft. I refreshed myself on weapons and
stance.
The most challenging things I faced was having to continually modify my writing style, understanding my characters’ POV, and the many daunting rewrites. After I contracted – the edits!
GRACIE: Of all
the stories you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?
MARQUETE: Siberian Jewel was my first
published novel at Secret Cravings Publishing. I
love
Cal and Toni and even the villain, la Cruz aka Rattlesnake, and his hired men. Toni’s (deceased
parents and Cal’s family. They
were part of my life for a very long time. It was hard saying good-bye
to them.
GRACIE: I know
this is like asking a mother which is her favorite child, but which of your
characters is your favorite and why?
MARQUETE: You’re
right. This is tough question. I really like Toni. I admire her attitude,
chutzpah and courage.
GRACIE: What
about your characters makes them unique?
MARQUETE: That a
big, strong and heavily built man like Cal enjoys classical music, LOL.
GRACIE: What is
your favorite aspect of the writing process? Your least favorite?
MARQUETE: My
favorite aspect is getting to know my characters, the plot and the areas where
my stories take place. The ‘what if’s’ are quite interesting. I enjoy
interviewing the characters. It amazes me at how well I get to know my heroine
and hero through an interview.
My least favorite is sorting through my scribbled notes that collect and grow over time. I have several stories outlined and piles of notes in my oak cabinet waiting to be sorted through before I can begin my stories.
GRACIE: Are you a
pantser or do you outline?
MARQUETE: Outline.
GRACIE: If you
weren’t a writer, what other profession would you have chosen to pursue?
MARQUETE: I want
to do EVERYTHING, from being a nurse, a paramedic, SAR (search and rescue),
archeologist, a chef, detective, criminalist, a travel journalist, actress; a
screenwriter. Working on location on a film set watching my novels being made
into a motion picture!
To answer your question, if I weren’t a writer, I’d be a
nurse, or maybe a paramedic?
For fun, I still want to fly.
GRACIE: Who are
some of your favorite authors and why? Name some of your favorite books and why
they’re your favorites.
MARQUETE: Jaid
Black, Ruby Storm, Reese Gabriel, Sable Hunter, Vonna Harper, Denyse Bridger
and Gracie McKeever. Recently, I picked up a novel, Rose Madder by Stephen King. All the stories I have read by these
authors have tenacity and emotion.
GRACIE: What are
you working on now and what should readers be looking forward to from you in
the future?
MARQUETE: I am working on Home Sexy Home, about a business woman,
Jacqueline Holly, who purchases a crumbling mansion in a small town and turns it into a
Bed &
Breakfast. With the renovations nearly completed, Jacqueline doesn’t want
anything to get in her way to opening the doors to her
B&B, when she finds one rough looking,
however, devastatingly attractive biker
and drifter camping in the woods in her backyard.
I’m also working on Dirty Woman. The heroine, Fiona Lovett, wants to explore her sexuality by imitating the art she paints by being a sexual exhibitionist.
Soon, I’ll be working on Bad
& Beautiful, a sexy thriller about bad boy Billy Shaw who breaks away
from drug lords to save a city the drug lords want to wipe out. Before he gets
to the city Billy hides temporarily in a barn to attend to his gunshot wound.
There he finds Sarah, a young sheltered woman who lives precariously through
Cosmopolitan magazine and the media. Against Billy’s objections, Sarah goes on
the run with Billy.
GRACIE: Do you
have a website and/or how can readers contact you?
MARQUETE: Yes,
absolutely. My website is http://www.marquetewilliams.ca
Readers can email me here: mhandywilliams@eastlink.ca
GRACIE: Where and
how can readers purchase and/or read samples of your work?
MARQUETE: Readers
can go to my website as mentioned above to read excerpts and find links to
purchase my book(s) or they may follow the links below:
Create Space (Print book): https://www.createspace.com/3620940
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Siberian-Jewel-ebook/dp/B004SBQA3I
Secret Cravings Publishing (Ebook): http://tinyurl.com/7h5kpbf
GRACIE: What
advice do you have for beginning writers?
MARQUETE: The
best advice I can give is to read, read,
read, and then read some more for enjoyment and study. Read The Elements of Style
by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B.White, (recommended to me by Gracie McKeever J).
Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon is a great how-to book too.
GRACIE: Marquete, thanks so much for taking time from
your busy schedule to share yourself and your work with us at The G-Spot and
giving us a little insight into your writing and the writing process! We’ll let
you get back to writing those wonderful books you write! All the best!
MARQUETE: Thanks
so much, Gracie for this interview! This was fun. I hope readers enjoy my
interview as much I enjoyed being here. I look forward to hearing from them!
