I get to meet all kinds of great writers through this blog! Join me in welcoming, MJ Mac, a fellow cozy author. I can't wait to dive into her books!
Before she began crafting cozy cocktail mysteries, MJ Mac was a “Jill of all trades” in corporate America for forty years. A master juggler in three-inch heels and lipstick, she pulled the ropes from behind the curtain, making magic happen. In 2021, a story about a cruise director, her coworkers, and their zany passengers began to formulate in her head and she promptly traded in her world of meetings (and meetings about meetings) for sand and flip-flops to embark on the Kennedy Reeves Cozy Cocktail Cruise Mystery Series.
What
was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?
That’s
an easy one because I’m there right now as I work on book five! In every
Kennedy Reeves book, during the cruise, Kennedy performs her one-woman show.
The topics vary by the theme of the books—dating, family, and the holidays, and
they can be challenging to write. I want to make my readers feel like they are
sitting in the theater watching Kennedy deliver this monologue and nod their
heads or applaud at some sassy one-liner she throws out there. After I’ve tweaked
this section enough, I spend time going through the physical motions as if it
were me on stage giving the audience the eye rolls, dramatic sighs, and
hand-on-the-hip moments that Kennedy delivers with her zingers.
What
sort of research do you do for your work?
Everything
from the cocktails that I have in each book to making certain a person’s
movement in a scene is correct. When I wrote one of the scenes from book one, I
actually lay on the floor as if I had been knocked out to ensure how the person
got up was believable.
Which
books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author that inspires
you?
All
authors inspire me! First, to put yourself out there for the world to read
something you have created is an act of pure bravery. And to then craft stories
that make readers “fall into” the book and sweep them away is magical. I think
series writers are especially creative because they have to make long-range
plans for their characters. What happens in this scene in this book may affect
a book two down the road.
Lillian
Jackson Braun’s Cat Who series is near and dear to my heart, as is the Diane
Mott Davidson Goldy Shultz series. When I want to laugh out loud, I read Janet
Evanovich because Grandma Mazur is my spirit animal. But there are times when I
need to read to educate myself and that’s when I turn to Margaret Atwood,
Stephen King, and Pat Conroy.
Was
there a person who encouraged you to write?
My
main character, Kennedy. I was working an 80-hour week job in the corporate
world, and her story came to me, and I couldn’t shake it. She kept bugging me, tapping
me on the shoulder, saying, “I’ll handle this. You just write down what I say.”
So, to shut her up, I did, and three months later, the first draft of A Boat
for a Goat was done.
What
would you say are your strengths as an author?
I’ve
been told my use of the five senses put my readers in the scenes. That was
something I learned in my corporate life. I had to make the person I was
pitching buy into what I wanted from them.
How
often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?
I
write every day in some way, shape, or form. Six days a week I work on my
current book (or stare at the blinking cursor on the monitor) and I spend one
day a week attending to book business—blogs, social media posts, and my monthly
newsletter. The marketing side zaps me so I make a point of not even trying to
work on my books on those days. But, the day after, I put on my flip-flops and
head to the beach for a long five-mile walk to reset my brain.
A Kennedy
Reeves Mystery Book 1
Kennedy
Reeves, cruise director for the Helio, has been called back to work
after being on land for the last year. Everything looks shipshape until the
consultant hired by the corporate office arrives, and he has a very different
course charted.
A
Kennedy Reeves Mystery Book 2
Secrets
and scandal are the spices of this cruise when Classic Style Network chooses
the Helio as the location for a cut-throat cooking competition, and it's
up to Kennedy to keep things from boiling over between the passengers,
competitors, and a nosy writer.
A
Kennedy Reeves Mystery Book 3
Kennedy
is asked to help on a VIP cruise to Alaska, but the welcome she receives is as
icy as the surrounding waters. And while Kennedy and the passengers are taking
in Alaska’s dazzling beauty, someone else is busy pocketing other sparkling
things.
Q: Why won’t sharks attack lawyers?
A: Professional courtesy
Cruise
director Kennedy Reeves is having one of those weeks. Her passengers look like
the walking dead after an epic sail-away party, and the ship’s doctor has the
bedside manner of a cockroach. And to top things off, there are lawyers on
board, and although they are slugging down legalese cocktails (recipes
included), they haven’t sued anyone in a week, and their teeth are beginning to
gnash.
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