1) Please tell us about your latest/upcoming book. Is it a series or stand alone?
The Fool’s Journey is the first in the Infinity Series wherein the characters reincarnate and are faced with new problems in successive lives. Some problems, obstacles will recycle, some will resolve.
The Fool’s Journey is an historical romance set in the 1700’s It begins in England and ends up on the Caribbean Island of St. Kitts. Part of the story is set in a Tibetan Monastery, but I won’t give that away.
The books centers around the life of Lady Catherine Bramwell, a woman who is framed for the murder of her husband. Trapped in a an arranged marriage, Catherine becomes involved with three men-
Jean-Philippe: the mysterious former English officer who wins her heart.
James: the loyal friend who loves her in silence.
Artemus: the ex-pirate who stops at nothing to own her.
2) How do you write: plot every detail or write by the seat of your pants?
I am a seat-of-the-pants writer. I am also what I call a method writer. Kind of like a method actor. I have a general idea of the characters and plot. I enjoy really getting into the period of the book. I like to dress in period clothing (just to go out to dinner or maybe a Highland games) and put on candles, incense, music. I try to use music from that culture or time period. I study the speech of the culture and time, reading books or traveling to that part of the world. I get deeply immersed in it all.
Then I just sit down and start writing. The characters tell me their story. I actually see it in my head like a movie. I hear them, smell and see the environment and I write what I see and hear. The plot often takes unexpected, interesting turns as it develops, depending on the character or research I have done. It takes on a life of its own, and I really never know where it will end up.
3) What book was the hardest to write? The easiest?
None of them have been difficult to write. They have all been fairly easy. I love doing the historical research and I think because I do a thorough job of it, it makes it easier. I also really love my characters so that makes it easy. I can’t wait to get up in the morning and see what new story they have to tell.
4) What is coming up for you in 2010? Can we get a sneak look into them?
I am working on my Scallywags series at the moment, alongside my Scottish historical, Laird of the Mist. Both have extensive research and are exciting. Because they require great historical accuracy, I have to be very careful. Scallywags is set in the Old West and told from the point of view of my great-great-grandparents. Book one will be about their relationship with Billy the Kid. Two will be about the actual murder of my great aunt, Hallie Eakin by her husband in Silver City, Ne Mexico. Three will be about John Wesley Hardin, a cousin who was a famous gunslinger.
Laird of the Mist id a Scottish reverse time-travel that covers the Highland Clearances.
These books are currently being represented and I am hoping they will sell soon.
5) If you could meet any mythical being, who would it be and why?
Good question. Seeing as how I have met many ghosts and even faeries, I have to stretch here. Perhaps the Loch Ness Monster, Nessie. I truly believe Nessie exists. I would just love to actually see Nessie while I am at Loch Ness. I haven’t yet. (I go to Scotland frequently). I was just there two weeks ago and I didn’t see Nessie. Oh well. Maybe next time. Why do I want to see Nessie? I don’t really know. Curiosity, I suppose.
6) If we looked on your bookshelves, what would we see? Any favorite authors there?
Oh yes. In no particular order, Charles Dickens (I love Great Expectations), John Irving (Prayer for Owen Meany and Cider House Rules are brilliant), F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tender is the Night is incredible) and J.K. Rowling, of course. All of them right next to D.H. Lawrence, Alexis de Tocqueville and J.M. Barrie.
7) We popped in for a spell and opened the fridge, what would we find there?
A lot of fruit, vegetables, yogurt. Always a bottle of Bollinger champagne and some cheese and pate. The freezer has a lot of nice steaks, and on occasion, Elk from my dear cousin, Sam. I love wild game- venison, duck, partridge, boar, you name it. (I was in heaven in Scotland last month where wild game is on every menu) I also love pasta. And Chunky Monkey ice cream. Oh yeah!
Are you a realty TV junkie? If so, what are your faves to watch or tivo? If not, what is your preferred shows to watch?
For reality shows I love anything Gordon Ramsay does – Kitchen Nightmares, Hell’s Kitchen and The F Word. He is brilliant!
I also watch House, Two and a Half Men, True Blood, Californication, Curb Your Enthusiasm and nearly anything on BBS America. I don’t have a Tivo. I don’t want one, because I am sure I would use it too much and not get anything done!
9) Where can readers find you on the web?
At my website at www.moongypsy.com.
My Writers and Readers of Distinctive Fiction site at http://romancewriterandreader.ning.com/profile/FoeryMacDonell.
I am also on Face book at http://www.facebook.com/moongypse
And on MySpace at myspace.com/kathiede
Also my Foery’s Paranormal Experiences blog at http://foery.livejournal.com/
Come by and say hello!
Check out Laird of the Mist and The Fool’s Journey book trailers at www.moongypsy.com
The Fool’s Journey
Buy link at Barnes & Noble
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Fools-Journey/Foery-K-Macdonell/e/9781440156342/?itm=3&usri=1
Blurb
A romantic saga of reincarnation, The Fool’s Journey sweeps through the Caribbean, pirates, and the mystical temples of Tibet.
From the mysterious monasteries of Tibet to the sweeping vistas of the Caribbean and its pirates, two people find their destinies in each other. The first novel in the Infinity Series, The Fool’s Journey is an epic historical set in 18th century England and the Caribbean and spans the lifetime of Lady Catherine Bramwell and the three men who love her.
Lady Catherine: framed for the murder of her husband of an arranged marriage.
Jean-Philippe: the mysterious former English officer who wins her heart.
James: the loyal friend who loves her in silence.
Artemus: the ex-pirate who wants to own her.
LAIRD OF THE MIST
Buy link
http://www.moongypsy.com/LairdOfTheMist.html
Blurb
Laird of the Mist is the first in a series of three books which chronicle the MacDonell family through the Highland Clearances in Glengarry, Scotland.
Laird Carrick MacDonell believed he fought well at the Battle of Culloden Moor in 1746, but not well enough. Having lost most of his clan as well as his beloved pregnant wife, Jenny, who had come to the battlefield to aid the wounded, he is a broken man. To assuage his pain, he seeks the assistance of a witch to mix him a potion so he can take his own life. Instead, she informs him that his wife is reincarnated in 2009 and she sends him through time to find her.
Carrick arrives in 2009 and finds Jenny, now Caitriona MacPhail. Believing him to be a reeanctor from a Highland games, Cat puts no stock in his story and turns him over to her Scottish grandfather, a retired doctor who believes Carrick’s tale. Cat eventually remembers Carrick and they are wed in Scotland. Cat is accidentally transported back to 1746, two days before Cumberland wreaks destruction on the glen. Carrick and Cat’s grandfather and sister find a way to travel back to 1746 to save her. They arrive amidst Cumberland’s butchery and begin to pick up the pieces of their lives.
Laird of the Mist is unique among Highland novels in that Laird Carrick MacDonell is one of the few Highland lairds who does not evict or cause his tenants to emigrate, nor clear his lands in favor of sheep. Instead, he continues to protect his people, raise Highland cattle and fight excise men against discovery of his distillery. He manages to keep family and clan together in Scotland despite every attempt to destroy their traditional way of life.
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Hi Foery,
Welcome to my blog. Thanks for coming by.
Is there a genre you haven’t tried yet but want to in the future?
Raine D.
Yes! For many years, I have had a sci fi Druid story in my head. I really hope to get to it one day. It is about a cross-bred alien Druid Priestess who cannot die and her adventures interacting between the alien and human world through time. Maybe someday….
Well done…and I salute you, my fellow “seat of the pants writer.”
Loved the interview….can’t wait to read ur books….Congrats and may you sell many copies….Tabs