Author Lorena McCourtney Brings the Cozy Mysteries!

 Cozy up, readers I've a really special author for you. An author dear to my heart. I've fully enjoyed her Ivy Malone books and highly recommend all of them. This woman is Ivy Malone in flesh (at least I think so, wink.) With any Mac n' Ivy Mysteries up for grabs for this weeks giveaway, welcome, author Lorena McCourtney!

*****************

PT: Welcome to a new year and to The Diamond Mine of Christian Fiction, Lorena. Tell the readers how you became a writer. Did you start young? Start later in life? And why?

LM: I started young, about 6^th grade, I think. Horse stories, of course. I was one of those “horse crazy” girls. My mother was a writer and helped me send the stories to some children’s magazines. The magazines, however, were not impressed with my youthful “talent,” and sent them right back. I sold a few agricultural articles while I was in college (my major was animal husbandry and I had in mind writing in that field) but that ambition floundered and I didn’t write for several years after college. I was busy getting married and raising a toddler, and by the time I did return to writing I knew I wanted to write fiction

PT: How did you get into writing cozy mysteries? Did you start with a different genre?

LM: I started writing with short stories for children for the Sunday School publications. (Are there still Sunday School papers?) Then I wrote some 150 stories for confession magazines. Remember confessions? Lurid titles but the actual stories were more of the good-girl-done-wrong-and-learned-her-lesson type. When I turned to book lengths, I originally wrote romances. Then I threw a murder into one and realized I liked doing a story with mystery. From there, I naturally gravitated to cozies because I’m not fond of gore and serial killers.

PT: You have some of the most interesting similes when you write. Like “sizzled like a downed electric wire.” (From That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles) How do you devise such interesting ones?

Click pic for purchase link.

 LM: I’m not sure. That’s just the way my mind works!

PT Haha! Well, I sure like those similes. Now, let’s dig into your character Ivy Malone. Would you say she’s a bit like you or completely fictional?

LM: I think there’s a little of me in many of the characters I’ve written. (The latest Mac ‘n’ Ivy mystery is my 51^st published book, so there have been many characters over the years.) But there’s more of me in Ivy than in any of those other characters. Ivy feels she has aged into invisibility, that people just don’t see her any more, and I’ve certainly felt that way!  Ivy is, however, more adventurous than I am. And, though Ivy keeps running into dead bodies and murder, that isn’t something I’ve ever personally done (thankfully!).

Click pic for purchase link.

PT: I definitely feel like I’m developing that LOL (little old lady) invisibility that Ivy has. Since Ivy  (and Mac) travel around in a RV most of the time, did this idea of living in an RV come from experience, a wishful dream, or just plain research?

LM: We never lived full-time in a motorhome, as Ivy and Mac do, but we have traveled in various RVs, from a truck-mounted camper to various sizes of travel trailers to several different motorhomes. Fun!

PT: Let’s get to The Tunnel of Doom. How did you come up with the plot and setting?

LM: I wanted to do a setting near home, and Mt. Shasta is only a few hours’ drive from where we live in southern Oregon. The plot just evolved from the setting.

PT: Do you have a particular time/place that you write?

LM: I have a home office, where I can spread out whatever I’m working on and not have to put my mess away at night. I’ve always considered writing a job so I just got up in the morning and went to my office to work. If I waited for the muse to strike before I started writing I’d probably still be muddling around with my first book! (However, these days, as I’m into Ivy’s senior age, I get started later in the day with writing and quit earlier.)

PT: What Bible verse is your current favorite?

LM: Phillipians 4:6 (NIV edition) is a long-time favorite: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

PT: Do your books cycle around a certain Bible verse/theme?

LM: A general foundation of all the Ivy books is, although it may not be exactly in the style or form that you’d prefer, God will take care of you and is always present.

PT: Give me 5 things fast about Lorena McCourtney that have nothing to do with writing.

LM:

1.     I love to travel, but I’ve lived in Southern Oregon for almost 65 years and think it’s the greatest place to call home.

2.     One place to which I’ve always wanted to travel is Ayer’s Rock (also named Uluru)in Australia.

3.     I collect old spurs and pocket knives.

4.     I make a great cheesecake, but grilling steak is not one of my talents.

5.     I’m short (4’11’’) and mostly invisible.

 

PT: What book are you currently working on and when is it expected to release?

LM: I’m working on Book #6 in the Mac ‘n’ Ivy Mysteries series. Title is tentatively Charlie’s Secrets, and it is set in the area where I graduated from high school. Release date? Good question! When I get it done is the best I can do.

PT: Thanks so much for being with us today, Lorena! I'm looking forward to Mac n' Ivy book #6!

If you can't wait to get your hands on Lorena's books, check out these links and go crazy with that Christmas Amazon or B&N card:

Amazon e-book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BDT7NFTB

Amazon paperback: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BHJ5H56H 

Barnes & Noble e-book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-tunnel-of-doom-lorena-mccourtney/1142306852?ean=2940186560265

Lorena is graciously giving away YOUR CHOICE of one of the Mac n' Ivy Mysteries. Here's the drill. Leave a comment (and encourage Lorena on her writing journey) and your email address. Or you can leave your email on our contact form to be entered.

Be sure to check the book giveaway tab for winners!