Interview with suspense novelist Maggie Thom

Today’s special guest is women’s fiction suspense novelist Maggie Thom. She’s currently on a virtual book tour for her novel Captured Lies.

Maggie will be awarding winner’s choice of a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. To enter for a chance to win, leave an e-mail address with a comment below. And if you'd like to increase your chances of winning, visit other tour stops and leave comments there.

Bio:

Maggie Thom made the hard decision to leave her successful, twenty-year career in management, to write full time. The leap was easy. The freefall was adventurous and very enlightening. When she’s not running her children around or spending time with her best friend, her husband, she’s writing – anywhere, anytime. Give her five free minutes and you’ll find her busy scribbling down ideas. She lives in the real world but loves to get lost in the lives of her characters – who live, love and laugh and are all figments of her imagination. She is thrilled with her first novel - Captured Lies - filled with suspense, murder, mystery, and romance.  

She can be found at:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |

The book is currently available through:

Amazon | Kobo

Welcome, Maggie. Please tell us about your current release, Captured Lies.

She was kidnapped not once but twice and now someone wants her dead because of it....

Her life was a lie!

Bailey knew her upbringing wasn’t normal but she’s worked hard to stabilize her life. At 29, she finally has a good business, a stable home; her life is miles from that of her childhood. Then suddenly her mother dies, leaving a gaping hole and a discovery that they may not even be related. If Guy, the private investigator is to be believed, her life is a lie. Using the skills she learned on the streets, Bailey travels back through a sketchy and dangerous past, to find answers. Dodging bullets, staying ahead of those who want her dead and convincing Guy she can do it alone, are making it difficult to discover not only the secrets of her mother’s past but that of a family claiming she is theirs.

Everyone seems to have a story... but who’s telling the truth? And who wants her dead? Is Guy part of the solution? Or part of the problem? To discover the facts, she’ll have to untangle a web of deceit, lies, and secrets, dating back over thirty years.

But can she do it in time.....

What inspired you to write this book?

It was an idea that came to me when we were driving. I get lots of ideas, some I write down and some I don't. This one though kind of grabbed me and just kept building to the point that I realized I had to do something with it. Some of what happened in the book though was a result of my father passing away while I was writing it. It really became kind of cathartic to write and express some of the pain I felt at losing him. Some of the idea for the book was also about, what would it be like to lose your identity. What would that mean? What would you do if you weren't who you thought you were? What if your life was meant to have been different? How would you unravel it?  

Excerpt:

The voice came over the speaker. “We’re experiencing some turbulence. Everyone please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts.”

Mary looked out the window. Gray clouds, low-hanging and heavily laden, filled her view. Lightning streaked by, followed by a loud rumble. The plane jerked and shuddered.

Passengers screamed and shouted. The stewardesses flung out instructions as they raced down the aisle, checking on everyone. “Please remain calm. We’re going through some rough weather. Stay seated and ensure your seatbelts are secure. Put your tray tables in the upright position.” The instructions were thrown out so fast they were almost incomprehensible.

More booming and cracking shook the plane like it was having a grand mal seizure. The aircraft dropped, nose down. They were descending. Rapidly…too rapidly. The stewardesses swayed and scrabbled, grabbing seats, staggering as they pulled themselves down the aisle heading to strap themselves in. The plane bucked. People screamed.

Mary slammed forward, smacking her head on the seat in front of her. The baby shrieked terror. Mary forced herself back, glancing at the infant in her arms. “Shh, baby. Shhh. We’ll be all right.”

Papers flew around like frantic birds despite her seatmate’s attempt to catch and hold them. Ignoring him, she looked out the window. The sky was a blur of ominous black lit up to a gun-metal grey every now and then by a flash of lightning. She wasn’t sure what dropping out of the sky looked like but she figured this was it.

What exciting story are you working on next?

Tainted Waters

Frustrated at being fired from her latest job and overwhelmed by her consolatory family, Sam decides to move to the family’s cabin at the lake. A place she hasn’t been to since her dad committed suicide twenty years before. Or did he? Snooping is something she’s good at but someone seems to be taking offence to her looking too closely at what has been happening at the lake. The descendants of the four families who own the land around the lagoon are dying off... Is she next?

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Today. Just kidding. Okay well not really. It has taken me a long time to call myself a writer. I told people I wrote but not that I was a writer. It has always been something I do not something I am. So it was an interesting leap to finally admit to myself that I am a writer. It's kind of crazy the little quirks we have. This is one of mine. Now I tell people I'm a writer and an author. That was a leap.  

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I'm not sure how to answer this. My intent is to write full time but other things sure get in the way of that. Some people call that procrastination. :) Now that I have a published book, my time is split between writing my new book, Tainted Waters, and marketing Captured Lies. I start early with doing all the emails and social media stuff. Then I work on promotional things. Then I try to fit in time to write. My writing time isn't really set. I find time to write but sometimes it's when I'm waiting for my kids while they're at a sport or an activity, sometimes it's early in the morning, sometimes in the evening, sometimes when we're traveling - driving or flying. Give me five free minutes and I'll write.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I guess that I will whip out pen and paper at any given moment and start writing. Doesn't really matter where I am or what I'm doing. Also I have pads of paper all over the place - by the bed, in my purse, in my car, in the living room, where ever I might be that an idea will come to me. I wouldn't want to lose it. :)

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

The first memory I have of this, grade one or so, is a picture I drew for my parents, in which I planned on being a nurse. Back then, I'm really not that old but it sure sounds like it, there really weren't a lot of female role models for much else for girls. Choices tended to be - nurse, teacher, secretary... None of which I became.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I love to read, although I don't get as much time now to just sit down and read as I used to. I love to hear about new books that others have enjoyed. I guess because I'm a new author that I'm finding a lot of newly published authors to read and I love being one of the first to read their books. Your feedback is really important to me. What did you think of Captured Lies?

Thank you, Maggie. Readers, remember if you'd like a chance to win a gift card, leave an e-mail with a comment below so you can be contacted. Good luck!