Interview with sci-fi author Mari Collier

My special guest today is Mari Collier. She’s chatting with me about her newest sci-fi novel, Thalia and Earth, which is also a family saga.

Welcome, Marilyn. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’ve worked as a bookkeeper, loan collector, and as an Advanced Super Agent for Nintendo of America. I serve on the Twentynine Palms Historical Society Board as a Director and on their Accessions Committee as the Accessions Curator. I write two columns for their Old Schoolhouse Journal. Good Shepherd Lutheran Church has selected me as their Congregational Secretary.

Please tell us about your current release.

Thalia and Earth continues the family saga of the mixed genetic beings. On the planet Thalia, they battle the Sisterhood into oblivion, they think. Then they try to resolve family matters on Earth, but their descendants are a contentious lot. If that weren’t enough there is another force in the galaxy preparing to destroy them.

What inspired you to write this book?

This is the fifth novel in the Chronicles of the Maca. The family of Thalian, Justine, and Earth beings want us to know they are here and on other planets. They and their descendants walk among us, but some of them have hidden designs.

Excerpt from Thalia and Earth:

David Krampitz sat at the walnut desk staring intently into the darkness of the massive wooden door. His large, work calloused hands were curled into tight fists resting on his knees. In his mind, he could see the car racing past Buster’s Roost, the four occupants were intent on reaching the highway to Oklahoma. He concentrated on the driver, a man with straight dark hair, brown skin bronzed by sun, dark eyes focused on the road to make sure no boulder had rolled onto it from the last rain. And then David went deeper into the man’s mind. They became one as he gripped the steering wheel and tromped the gas pedal. David twisted the steering wheel to the right and drove the auto to the edge and over, the waves of fear and nausea generated in the man’s mind washed back into David’s mind. The man fought to regain physical control, but lost. The car plunged downward, rolling over and over until it crashed into a huge outcropping of rock. David swiveled in the wooden chair and turned the desk light on. The yellow glow spread over the desktop and outward onto the floor. His breathing was heavy and his two hearts were pounding; pounding as if he had been in that car and survived. He stood and walked over to the built-in walnut gun cabinet with banks of drawers on the side and two doors on the bottom. He opened one of the doors, retrieved a glass and a bottle of whiskey. He poured the glass half full, gulped it down, and returned the bottle to the shelf. He looked up at the painting above the door. “I don’t drink whiskey, but I just took a swig of your expensive bottling that’s been setting in this house for over thirty years. Is that how you handled any guilt? Why didn’t you leave a journal or instructions on how to exist without destroying other people? Old timers say you killed men, but that was openly. Did you kill men in the dead of night when no one could charge you with murder? Did that spaceship take you away from all the memories?” The gray eyed man in the painting made no reply.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m editing the sixth novel from the series, but it is still untitled. This one includes a galactic war and murder. I’m also working on another Twisted Tales anthology.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

That would be when I sold a children’s story to Jack and Jill Magazine.

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 retired now, but I write almost every day at the same time for at least an hour or two.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

My mind that sees things differently than the rest of the world.

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

An actress so I could be in all different kinds of stories. Now I create the stories.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Remember, God has a sense of humor. He created us.

Thank you for this opportunity. Oh, if you like sci-fi and family sagas, you can find out more through: Website | Twitter | Facebook.

Thanks for being here today, Mari!