Bio:
M. Kircher
graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts from Gordon College and is currently an author
and artist. The War Inside is her
first novel, but there are more to come including the second book in The
Horizons Trilogy, The Gray Horizon,
and Dreamcatchers, a futuristic twist
on the legend of Rip Van Winkle. She devours YA, science fiction, fantasy, and
romance on a regular basis and is immensely happy to pour her time and energy
into creating stories for other people to enjoy. Bob Ross and J.R.R. Tolkien
tie for her two favorite people of all time.
She and her
husband write regularly for Relevant Magazine (www.relevantmagazine.com) and
Simply Youth Ministry (www.youthministry.com). They also just had their first
book published called 99 Thoughts on
Marriage and Ministry, by Group Publishing.
M. Kircher
lives in Connecticut with her husband, one energetic son, and a new baby girl.
Welcome, M. Please tell us about your
current release.
My new YA
paranormal/dystopian novel, The War
Inside: Book One in the Horizons Trilogy, was released a couple of months
ago and I’m so excited to share this book with readers. At different points
it’s been in Amazon.com’s Kindle Top 100 Bestsellers for “Dystopian” and
“Metaphysical & Visionary Fantasy.” It was also featured on http://mycrazzycorner.blogspot.com/
as part of their “2013 YA Blogfest.” And now we’re doing this very fun Virtual
Book Tour with Goddess Fish Promotions, which runs from October 17th
– October 25th. There have been a lot of fun and exciting things
going on surrounding the release.
What inspired you to write this
book?
I have
always wanted to write young adult fiction, but never had the courage to get
started. I thought, “What story am I going to tell?” My husband and I had, at
that point, been writing blogs and articles for a couple of years about dating,
relationships, and marriage. Those gigs got my feet wet with the publishing
industry. And then we had our first book about marriage published and I
thought, “Okay, now I know I can write a book.” But it wasn’t until a friend
and I were having coffee one day and gleefully discussing all the new YA sci-fi
and fantasy books that we were loving, that I actually considered writing a
novel. My friend told me point blank, “You have to write a novel. You just have
to.” For some reason, that was what I needed to get started. I went home, found
some old story ideas I had written down, managed to finagle them together into
a feasible plot, and then started writing. I haven’t stopped since!
Excerpt from The War Inside:
Viv
shrieked again, and Thea grabbed her hand.
“It’s
OK, Viv. There’s only one of him and three of us. You don’t have to be afraid.”
But by this time, there was no mistaking the fact that the man had spotted the
four people staring up at him from the beach. They watched as his head swiveled
slowly in their direction.
Viv
acted like she didn’t hear Thea’s reassuring words; she just stared at the man
in horror. Thea peered at the figure more closely. Even though he was so far
away, Thea sensed that something was off. What was it? The man shifted
slightly, and the dim light around him changed. With a sinking feeling in the
pit of her stomach, Thea realized why she was having feelings of déjà vu.
She
had seen this thing before, and human he was most definitely not.
Her
heart became a lump of lead inside her chest, and she stood frozen with fear.
The man-creature was tall and thin, its limbs strangely elongated and its head
twice the size of a normal human. It wore no clothes and had skin as black as
night.
This
was the creature from her dream.
What exciting story are you working on
next?
I just
finished a YA science fiction novel tentatively titled, Dreamcatchers, about a girl and her mother who can sleep for as
long as they want and wander around in their dreams. The girl chooses to live
her life out in the real world, but when her father is killed, the mother
starts to lose her mind and sleep all the time. Enter a very cute, and very
suspicious new boy and a nosy book editor who both manage to discover the
pair’s secret, and everyone is off on an adventure through the world of dreams.
I’m also
working on the sequel to The War Inside
titled, The Gray Horizon: Book Two in the
Horizons Trilogy. Book two will continue The War Inside story, but it will be told from the perspective of
Caden. He, Thea, and the others will continue their search to rescue Viv from
the shadows and use their light to heal the planet and reclaim it for mankind.
(*Spoiler – There’s a death of one of the characters in this book.*)
When did you first consider yourself a
writer?
I think I
first considered myself a writer when magazines started accepting proposals,
and I actually got to see things I had written printed and circulated globally.
It’s crazy getting things in the mail from places like Denmark or Spain, and
seeing articles you’ve written printed in other languages. But before that I
obviously had to take myself seriously or I’d never have put anything out into
the world. You have to believe you’re a writer as soon as you write anything.
It much easier said than done, though. Writers have to walk a fine line between
listening to and learning from criticism, but yet believing in their work
enough to keep putting it out there. I’d like to encourage other people who
have a passion to write to just do it. Go ahead and start today, and keep
learning as you go.
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 currently
write part-time because I have two little kids, one son who we adopted through
state foster care in July, and one daughter who was born in June. I like to
call it my “instant family.” We have child care set up for two days a week, so
I work those two days and then whenever the kids are napping. It’s hard to
juggle it all, I’m not going to lie. I love being a mom, but I love writing as
well. It’s going to be an on-going process to carve out time for both
writing/working and raising a family.
What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?
I don’t
know if it’s actually a quirk, but I’m definitely not the normal, loosey-goosey
creative person. I like making lists, meeting deadlines, and having everything
organized. It drives me crazy to have stuff hanging around or unfinished.
Because I’m this Type A weirdo I simply have to outline anything I write. All
of my books, both fiction and non-fiction, have been thoroughly outlined from
start to finish before I even begin chapter one. I totally deviate from the
outlines, but having that structure already in place helps me get from one
tricky part of the story to the next - without having a major “Oh no, I have no
idea where this is going” freak outs.
As a child, what did you want to be
when you grew up?
Oh, geez.
Didn’t we all want to be marine biologists? I’m pretty sure I spent a good part
of my childhood wanting to work with the dolphins.
But
honestly, I never thought about it that much because my nose was always shoved
in a book. Before we had kids, I could read about ten books a week, and even
now I manage at least two or three. So I think that even though art, painting,
and creativity have been my main bents since I was a teen, there has always
been this passion for stories and writing simmering in the background, just
waiting to burst forth.
Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?
I’d love to
express my gratitude. We creative types live for our work to be seen. It’s part
of what makes creating something so special and wonderful. While I know that
not everyone has the same tastes, I’m just so grateful for those that take the
time to read any of my books or writing. Thank you and I hope you enjoy!
Buy link at Amazon
Ways to
connect:
Thanks for
having me!
My pleasure!
12 comments:
Hi! Thanks so much for having me today, you have so many great interviews on your blog. They're wicked fun to read through!
-Melissa
Great interview and excerpt, thank you.
Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com
You sound just like me! Wanted to be a marine biologist. Check. Used to read 10 books a week before I got busy. Check. Maybe I'll have my own YA book to my name soon as well :P lol
thanks for the interview!
andralynn7 At gmail DOT com
Great to hear from you again Andra Lyn and Rita. Thanks for stopping by. And that would be great if you had a book coming out! What are you writing right now?
-Melissa
great comments and I always enjoy hearing from the author.
This story sounds exciting, frightening and awesome.
Thanks for sharing the great interview and the giveaway. Sounds like a great book. evamillien at gmail dot com
Thanks Mom Jane & Eva!
I loved your awesome questions Lisa, they made me dig deep. I so appreciate you hosting me and "The War Inside" today :)
-Melissa
Interesting info about the inspiration
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
Sounds like a great read!!
Thanks for the chance to win!
natasha_donohoo_8 at hotmail dot com
A wonderful interview thank you. Always great to have some background.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
What a wonderful interview!
justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Thanks Chelsea B., Natasha, & Mary...it's great to see you all again! Thank you for stopping by!
-Melissa
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