Interview with Marcy Dyer and a chance to win a signed copy of Down and Out!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Please join me in welcoming my good friend and crit partner, Marcy Dyer to the Mine. Marcy has graciously agreed to play Santa and give away a signed copy of her book Down and Out to one of our lucky readers. Make sure you leave a comment below (including your email address so you can be contacted if you win) to be entered in the drawing.

Marcy, welcome to the Diamond Mine. Tell the readers a little bit about yourself.

I’m a registered nurse turned suspense writer. I’ve been writing for most of my life but only began to take it seriously and learn the craft about ten years ago. Currently, I have three books published: Down & Out, Out for Blood & Blood & Lies

What genre do you write and why?

I write suspense/romantic suspense mainly because it’s my favorite genre to read. I love books that keeping me turning page after page to find out what happens next.

How much of your personal experience or your personality goes into your characters?

Some of the characters have a little of my personality, but many of them are conglomerations of people I know. I do however rely on some of my experiences for inspiration.

In the book I’m currently writing, a home health nurse walks in on a murder scene. In reality, I once walked into the wrong home. My notes said the patient couldn’t come to the door, the key would be in a drawer in the back yard. I misread the address, went to the home across the street and there was a key in the drawer in the backyard. I walked in and began calling the patient’s name. When a woman stepped out of the bedroom, I assumed it was his wife.

I don’t know who was more scared her, or me. She was so kind and gracious about having a strange woman walk into her home. Another time, I interrupted a burglary at my neighbor’s home when I was taking care of their dogs.

What is your favorite thing about writing?

I love getting into the mind of the character. Whether it’s the protagonist or the antagonist, I do an in-depth character interview before I start writing. I love watching the characters grow and develop and then I like to stick them in horrible situations that they have no comprehension of how to deal with it.


What was the biggest challenge for you on the road to being published?

Getting up the nerve to submit something to a publisher. I was terrified to take that step, but a good friend of mine kept pushing me and I finally took a deep breath and sent the email.
What do you hope readers take away from your stories?

I hope my readers are entertained. I once had a reader tell me she kept thinking about my book all night after she finished it. That made my day. Giving the reader something to think about and making the characters real to them are my main goals. As a Christian writer my goal is to not be preachy, but to present authentic characters who happen to be Christians. Of course not all of my characters are Christians. That would be totally unrealistic.


What's the next project you're working on?

I’m actually working on several things. I have a contract for the fourth novel in the Desert Winds Series, Lies & Alibis so I’m working on finishing it up and getting it polished for the editors. I also have a novel in progress that’s a little different for me. It’s a zombie book called The Horde: Contagion. A weaponized form of rabies is unleashed on the world causing a rabid zombie outbreak. I’m also working on a book set in the Big Bend area of Texas and starting to plot a Private Investigator series set in San Antonio.
Marcy's latest book, Blood & Lies, is available now on Amazon.


While JD Miller is chaperoning a group of teens on a mission trip to Kherson, Ukraine, one of the boys vanishes from the group without a trace. 

Leandra Davis hasn't seen her father in over twenty years when he shows up and asks her to fly to Ukraine to join the search for a brother she's never met. Anger at her absentee father compels her to walk out and ignore his pleas, but anguish at the thought of her brother all alone in a foreign country, at the mercy of kidnappers, convinces her to abandon her life in Odessa, Texas and join the search. 

When she and her best friend fly to Ukraine to search for the kidnapped teen, she meets the passionate paramedic, JD Miller. Together, they search for the missing young man and begin to uncover deadly secrets Leandra's father wants to keep hidden.