Welcome my guest, Mickey J. Corrigan, known to write delightful pulp and more for
Originally
from Boston, Mickey lives and writes and gets into trouble in South
Florida. Mickey has published fiction in literary journals and online
magazines. Novellas include Dream Job, a cyber romance which has
been compared to Twilight Zone and The Matrix; Professional Grievers,
a romantic comedy set among funeral and wakes; Me Go Mango, a
girls' reunion gone wild; and Geekus Interruptus, the story of a
not-so-bright woman who falls in love with a nerd. Sugar Babies is a
novel about the soft prostitution industry, a thriller.
The
Wild Rose Press is publishing Mickey's new series, The Hard Stuff. Each novella
in the series focuses on a tough woman in a tough situation who falls for a
man—aand not the best man in her current circumstances. Mickey's romances
are not normal love stories. Her stories are gritty, wild and dark, but often
darkly funny. The protagonists are kickass women. They have spunk and
sass. Their romantic involvements are unusual. These are not nice girls pursued
by men with bouquets of roses and bottles of champagne. Love comes hard,
but it is oh so real.
Your
writing:
When did you write your
first book? How long did it take you to write it?
I
wrote my first book in grad school, a textbook. It took a year to complete and
a year to find a publisher. I was sure it would be a bestseller. Even though it
was a textbook! I had a lot to learn.
Did you encounter any
obstacles in writing? What are they? How did you overcome them?
For
me, the actual writing is never an obstacle. The hurdles are selling to the
best publisher for the book (or short fiction or whatever), then reaching the
right audience. I still struggle with these hurdles every day.
What do you think about
editing?
Editing
is SO important! I work as a professional editor myself so I believe in the
editing process. I usually love my editors, although I have had the occasional
problem editor over the years. But mostly, my editors have helped to improve my
work, giving my work shape and catching all the little errors and oversights it
is so hard for a writer to see. Editors have guided me with title selections,
cover designs, and plot holes. I'm a careful writer and I've been writing for a
living for many years, but I would not want to publish a book without a good
editor on the case.
Where and when do you
write? Tell us about your favorite work place and time. Any special reason?
I
write at my desk in my home office which overlooks a small lake. There are palm
trees, mango and avocado trees, and all kinds of birds like herons, osprey, and
hawks. Also iguanas, feral cats, raccoons. Plenty of beauty to distract me, but
I'm pretty good at staying focused. I work all day. I'm a workaholic, but I
take a lot of breaks.
How do you write? Do your
characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story? How do you
go on from there? Maybe you can give us an example with one of your books.
With
fiction, I may start with a title that pops into my head. That's what happened
with Geekus Interruptus and, most
recently, F*ck Normal. Or the idea or
theme might be something I want to pursue, such as what if our dreams could be invaded
by others using special software (the plot for Dream Job). I was curious about the world of sugar babies and sugar
daddies (you see a lot of it here in South Florida), so I researched heavily
before writing the thriller Sugar Babies.
Occasionally the characters will come to me first. That's why I wrote my first
novel, after I saw a young woman waiting for a bus. Her story just came to me
and I pursued it on paper.
What books can you
recommend to aspiring writers to improve on style, character development, plot,
structure, dialogue, etc?
I
don't study writing books or take classes. I read a lot of fiction, memoir, and
exciting nonfiction, and I reread the best books to learn how the writers I
most admire accomplish what they do. I always tell my clients to read, read,
read. And to join a writers group. And to be patient. Writing is a craft and,
like any craft you want to learn, it takes time to get good at it.
Your books:
What genre(s) do you write?
Why do you write the stories that you write?
I've
published nonfiction including textbooks, educational books for young readers, health
books, cookbooks, and celebrity bios. My fiction ranges from literary fiction
to erotic romance and dark thrillers. I write the books that intrigue me. I
learn about myself in the process. It's fun.
Have you ever wanted to
write your book in one direction but your characters are moving it in another
direction? What did you do in such a situation?
Yes,
most of the time I think I know where I'm going but my characters know better.
It's like a dream. You are there, it's yours, but you are not really in
control. Like life, I guess. You gotta go with the flow, but sometimes you have
to fight for what you want.
Tell us more about your latest
release, Mai Tai Guy from The Wild
Rose Press.
A
FREE READ, Mai Tai Guy is a short
story about a woman on the eve of her 30-year high school reunion who is still
in love with her high school boyfriend. So many of us have this problem. Puppy
love can dog a woman for a lifetime! The free read is available from the
publisher as part of The Hard Stuff, a new series from The Wild Rose Press. All
of the novellas in The Hard Stuff series are gritty, funny, and crazy. Each
story takes place in Dusky Beach, where a troubled woman finds more trouble
when she falls in love--with the wrong guy, of course.
Any new projects, work in
progress?
Over
the past few months, The Wild Rose Press has released two novellas in The Hard
Stuff series: Whiskey Sour Noir and Vodka Warrior. Two more books in the
series are in press: Tequila Dirty and RealLife Rum. Makes you thirsty just
reading about these little books, doesn't it?
I
also have a novella and a novel in press with the Australian publisher Bottom
Drawer Publications. F*ck Normal is
the story of a couple on the verge of separation who pursue their fantasies—and
discover some surprising things about themselves. It's a zany romantic comedy
and will be released as a Kindle Select title the first week in June. The other
title with BDP is a coming of age novel due out at the end of the summer.
What is your favorite
part of writing?
I love
writing, rewriting, and editing. The whole creative process is a challenge and
a joy to me. It's hard work, but I love hard work.
What is your least
favorite part of writing?
I do not
like promotion. This interview is fun, of course, but in general I don't like
to run around telling people to read my work. Writers tend not to like this
aspect of the job. But it's real and it has to be done.
I rely on
Goodreads, book review bloggers, and my own website. I work with my publishers
on generating publicity. But I have not created a place for myself on Facebook
or Twitter. I hesitate to do so because writing time is so scarce and I like to
spend as much of it as I can actually writing and editing. But that might not
be the wisest course of action these days. I'm not sure. The consensus is out
on whether the authors who self-promote the most are the authors with the
largest audience. Or if those with the largest audience are forced to spend the
most time in the media. Which came first, the bestseller or the visible author?
Most of my writer friends are not happy with the results of the time they've
spent on social media.
I write
because I love it. I hope to reach readers who also love to read my kind of
stories. I'm Irish so I believe luck has a lot to do with what happens once you
are done creating and editing your work. I wish all the aspiring and
hardworking writers out there much good luck!
How
would readers find out more about you?
See Mai Tai Guy on All Romance Ebooks
and Bookstrand
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