Interview Marilynn Byerly

by

Mary Jean Kelso

We are talking to Marilynn Byerly today. Marilynn is the author of several novels in a variety of genres and has a new release, Guardian Angel, this March from Wings Press Inc.

1) You are such a prolific writer, Marilynn. What do you attribute that to?

I wouldn’t call myself prolific. I have friends who write three to five books a year, and I don’t write that fast. I write steadily, and I’ve written for over twenty-five years so the backlog does tend to build up.

2) From reading on your website, www.marilynnbyerly.com, I see you come from a large family of story tellers. Were any of your relatives published or were you the only one to decide to put your words on paper?

None have been published in fiction. When I was growing up, my dad wrote a hunting and fishing column that often ventured into Southern humor. After he and Mom retired, they traveled all over the United States, and he did a roving column for the local paper on the people they met and the places they traveled. My younger brother and his wife are published in their research fields, artificial intelligence or contemporary African music.

3) What brought you to writing “slipstream” novels? Would you describe what you mean by that and how you found it to be your niche?

“Slipstream” is what science fiction readers call cross-genre novels. Many of my novels mix genre elements. For example, Star-Crossed is a perfect mixture between the world building of science fiction and the romantic adventure. These days, with the interesting mixture of elements in genre fiction, cross-genre/slipstream is becoming a norm with many new subgenre like the vampire romance and the female-centered fantasy.

I read as well as write in a number of different genre, but all my novels are primarily romantic adventure with different genre elements added. Guardian Angel, my Wings novel, is romantic suspense with a strong heroine, lots of daring escapes, and menacing killers. It also has a hunky hero along for the adventure.

4) How many books have you published? How many with Wings Press?

Guardian Angel will be my fifth novel, my first with Wings. I also have articles and short stories published in various books and magazines.

5) Have you been approached by anyone to have your novels made into movies? If that happened, who would you see playing Desta and Gard, the main characters in Guardian Angel?

I wish! Most of my books have strong and visual plots that would be suitable for a movie, but Spielberg has yet to find me. I cast most of my novels. I see Gard with his blue eyes and chiseled good looks as a young Robert Redford. In fact, another character makes fun of him by calling him “Robert Redford of the FBI.” Desta has the cool beauty and intelligence of a young Jaclyn Smith. Both these actors have aged out of the parts so I’ll let the reader recast the movie for herself.

6) Who does the covers for your books. Guardian Angel’s cover so reminded me of Charlie’s Angels with the fire in the background and the pose of the characters. Was that what you or the artist had in mind when the cover was designed?

All my covers were created from my ideas, but artists put them together. Both my covers for my Hard Shell books were done by the incredible Dirk Wolf. He was killed last year and the loss of his talent and kindness still staggers me.

My science fiction adventure, The Once And Future Queen, was done by Linnea Sinclair, who has become a very successful science fiction writer with Bantam Spectra. We had a lot of fun designing that cover with its science fiction look and fantasy elements.

The Game We Play was created by Deron Dragon of Double Dragon. Another very talented artist.

I didn’t remember the Charlie’s Angels movie poster until someone mentioned the similarity. Marvin Mann, Assistant Art Director for Wings, used my concept for the cover.

We wanted to do a very visual, exciting cover, and my original idea of having Gard and Desta, guns in hand, back to back in a parking lot proved to be impossible so we decided to use their silhouettes with the flames behind them. Flames are prominent in that scene as well as the opening scene when Desta’s boat blows up in front of Gard.

7) Where do you get your ideas for your stories? Does the setting, the characters, or the title come first?

The idea for Guardian Angel came to me as an image in a dream. I saw a yacht exploding, and I could see the silhouette of a woman, her billowing hair burning, emerging from the flame. The image was so stunning I had to figure out what happened next so I wrote Desta and Gard’s story to find out.

That’s not my usual method of writing a story. I normally start with a general premise or theme and work from that point. The Game We Play, for example, came when I wondered how much a man would be willing to give up and whom he would be willing to betray to save his children’s lives.

8) How do you write? The mechanics--do you outline, come up with a plot or theme? What is your writing schedule? Are you consistent with your schedule or sporadic?

I am a methodical writer. I start with an idea or theme and work from that point. I always outline. If you are interested in the details of my method, I have several articles on how to write a novel on my website. I spend four to six hours a day working with my writing. Unfortunately,

large chunks of that time are taken up with the business of writing--promotion, business contacts, networking, etc.

Once, I get Guardian Angel out, though, and some promotion done, I’ve promised myself I can focus totally on my next novel.

9) What are your goals for your writing?

I want to support myself with my writing and reach a much larger audience with each new book. I’d also like to be able to focus more of my energy and time on my writing.

10) Is writing a full time job for you? Or, is it your second full time job? Can you devote as much time as you want to your writing career?

I have a very full life otherwise so I don’t have the writing time I’d like. Like most writers, I have to sacrifice private time and things like reading, watching TV, and going to movies for time to write. I also teach writing and work as a book doctor.

11) Where do you live? What are some of your life experiences that have helped shaped you into becoming a writer?

I live in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina in the home I was born in on land my family has owned since just after the Civil War. I’m surrounded by gardens, woods, meadows, and creeks, but several large towns, universities, and arts centers are a very short distance away.

As I mention on my biography page, I come from a family of storytellers, but as the quiet one, I always told my stories to myself, and later, I wrote them down. I also was a voracious reader who went on to get two and a half degrees in American literature.

12) Do you see yourself in any of your characters? In what way, if you do?

My life is certainly far duller than any of my characters. All my characters, even my bad guys, have bits of my personality in them. My weaknesses I magnify for my dark characters, and my strengths I increase for my main characters. Gard, the hero of Guardian Angel, lives in the home my parents used to own on Lake Norman. Desta shares my interest in old movies and anything with sugar in it. They travel in areas of North Carolina I know quite well. None of the characters are remotely autobiographical, though. I got that out of my system in my first few books, all unpublished, and I’ve been happily dwelling in my imagination ever since.

13) What advice do you have for “would be” authors?

Write. Find a teacher or mentor to help you improve your craft. Write even more. Learn about the markets and the business of being a writer and send your stuff out. Then write some more. Also learn patience and persistence because the business of writing is excruciatingly slow, and success in this business is even slower. And, if you don’t love the process of writing, do something else. The love of writing may be the only really positive thing you’ll experience in the process because few of us are published, and even fewer make a living at it.

14) If you could live your fantasy, what would that be?

Financial success and security as a writer. Wild hordes of readers who love my books. A successful movie franchise. A Pierce Brosnan clone of my very own. My family always around me, and readers who will still be reading my books and loving them long after I am gone.

15) What project do you have in the wings now?

I’ve just finished an urban fantasy trilogy, no publisher yet, and I’ll soon start a contemporary dark paranormal.

Thank you, Marilynn, for sharing insights into your writing life. Good luck with Guardian Angel and your future publications.