And our Sue's Clues Mystery Author is:

This round our Mystery Author is Mary Reed McCall. She's a fairly new author to romance readers, but I have a feeling she will be around for a long time.

Mary lives a busy life in Upstate New York. Not only is she a wife, mother of two girls, and a writer, but she also teaches English to high school students. I can only imagine how time consuming it is and what it takes to get everything done in a day. Perhaps she was taking notes from her mom when she was growing up. I have a feeling if anyone could show you how to handle a busy life it would be Mary's mom.

You see, Mary comes from a very large, loving family. She is the sixth of seven girls and life was never dull. After reading what Mary had to say about her family below and at her website, I can't help but picture a mom who was constantly on the go. Mary was in tap and ballet class, played the flute and piano and acted in the local community theater. I'll bet the other girls weren't sitting home doing nothing, so I wonder at the amount of dropping off and picking up Mom was doing! *G*

But even being part of such of large family and so active outside of it, Mary will tell you books and writing were always a huge part of her life.

".... I was reading - books and stories of all kinds, but particularly romances. Drawn by the intense emotions, vivid descriptions, and happy-ever-after endings penned by my favorite authors, I decided early on that I, too, wanted to write powerful stories that might wend their way into readers' hearts."

I'm not surprised to see that she has done just that. Mary Reed McCall has published 3 books and, fortunately for lovers of romance novels, there are more to come.

In the interview below Mary talks about, among other things, the books she has written and her upcoming books. I'm especially looking forward to reading the Templar books she will be writing.

1. You went to college in NY and now live and teach there. Are you a native
of New York?

Yes - upstate NY, born and raised.

2. There are many romance novelists who have worked in education before becoming writers. I think it is great that you are still teaching high school while writing and was curious about a few things. What has been the reaction from your fellow faculty in regard to your writing? Have any of your students ever read your books? Have any parents commented on the fact that you write romance?

Fellow faculty have been very supportive, as has the school administration. In fact, about a month after I got "The Call" from HarperCollins/Avon, saying that they wanted to offer me a two book contract, many members of the faculty at my school arranged a lovely "congratulations!" dinner at a nearby restaurant for me, and treated me to a wonderful evening, complete with an engraved pen set as a gift. A truly memorable and heart-warming event. Some of my students have indeed read my books, though to my knowledge only female students. Many of the male students know about my writing, and while they are curious about the process, the covers <s> and the money involved (not much, alas!:) they aren't usually drawn to reading romance stories (it's difficult enough to get them to read Beowulf, Frankenstein, and Hamlet, forget about adding on more, LOL). My students are generally aged 15 and older, and they've been very interested, enthused about, and supportive of my writing. I guess they think it's "cool" to have a teacher who's published. :) I've never had a parent comment about my books or the fact that I write, that I can recall.

3. Do you ever see yourself writing full-time and retiring from teaching?

I do love teaching, but I'll be the first to admit that what amounts to working two full-time jobs, basically, is very tough both physically and in every other way. I've taught for 15 years now, and the early mornings for teaching (I have to leave the house by 7am with both girls ready for the day) and late hours for writing (I can't do any, usually, until after they're in bed - after 9pm, so I write from then until about 11:00pm or 12:00am) do tend to wear on me. I could see myself writing full-time, at some point in the future. Unfortunately, that isn't an option, financially, at this stage of my writing career.

4. How old are your girls?

Both under 10. I don't like to give too much info about them on-line or in other public forums, for security reasons!

   What do they think of mom's writing?

Since I do most of my writing when they're asleep, they don't comment too often about it, but what they do say is usually supportive. It's just part of life to them - no big deal that mom's a writer, since to them I'm mostly just "Mom". My teaching seems to impact them more, since it directly affects their schedule more often. :)

5. Are there any authors in particular who have influenced your writing?

As far as influences go, I was always drawn to authors who write dramatic, relationship-oriented stories. Shakespeare, Bronte, Shelley, James, Hardy, Chaucer,Hawthorne - all the classic authors who write good, meaty tales ranked among my favorites. I try not to let current romance authors influence me too much, since I want to keep my own voice separate - to nurture my own style and stay true to my vision for my stories.

  Who are your favorite reads?

This one's a bit easier to answer: Teresa Medeiros tops the list, along with Julia Quinn, Patricia Ryan, Shana Abe, Anne Stuart, Jennifer Crusie, and Maggie Shayne. I actually read many, many romance authors and enjoy a variety of setting and sub-genres, but I'll confess a weakness for historicals, particularly dramatic historicals.

6. Where do you get your ideas?


Hmmmmm - another tough question. :) It depends on the book. SECRET VOWS came from a moment of pure frustration; I'd been rejected yet again on a book I wrote previous to SV, and this rejection, like several of the others, commented on my "conflict" not being what they were looking for - not compelling enough. I sat and thought about what conflict would be gut-wrenching enough to meet any standards, and my heroine, Catherine came to mind - a woman who is placed in the horrible position of having the choice to impersonate a dead woman in order to get close enough to a man (the hero) to facilitate his murder, or else to see her children murdered by the villain (I'd already had a shadowy vision of a very tortured hero - who got toned down a little by the time the book went to press).

THE MAIDEN WARRIOR came from research I was doing on the Arthurian Tales for my sophomore honors class, and THE CRIMSON LADY came from watching a documentary story on Third World prostitution, and asking myself "What if this kind of thing happened in medieval England?" The research took me from there.

7. You grew up in a family with seven girls. What was that like? Your dad
must have felt terribly outnumbered! *G*


It was busy, often boisterous, full of drama (picture 7 girls, 4 of them teenagers at any given time, and only *one* bathroom, LOL), a lot of love, and a great deal of fun. We had enough people for our own softball games, played in the back yard - and many of our friends seemed to always want to come hang out at our house and join in the craziness. We even had two "Fresh Air Fund" girls from NYC each summer for about 7 years (they're still "sisters" of the family and stay in touch with my parents). There were almost always a dozen people at the table...we routinely used to peel an entire 10lb bag of potatoes for one meal. :) Grocery shopping was done with two carts, one pushed by my mother, the other by one of the older girls; the two carts would go to opposite sides of the store and meet in the middle, both full, to be rolled through checkout. It was a great childhood, and I loved every second of it. My father was king of his domain, with a house-full of girls happy to appreciate him, so he didn't suffer too much...he painted a sign when my younger sister (the seventh girl) was born, that he hung over the fencepost near the driveway. It said "Home" on one side, and "For Girls" on the other. It's still hanging there today. :)

8. So far you have written historical romances set during medieval times. Is there another time period you would like to set your stories?


My upcoming release - THE SWEETEST SIN, due out from Avon in June 2004 - is set in the mid-1500's. I'm definitely open to time periods, but the market is really tight right now, even for medievals. Regency-set historicals are the current hot ticket, but I have no affinity for that one time period, unfortunately.

   Do you think you would ever like to write a contemporary?


I definitely have some ideas....:)


9. Tell us a little about the Templar trilogy that you will be writing. It sounds very interesting?


Thanks! It's a connected series of stand-alone books about four Templar Knights (two of them actual blood-related brothers, all four brothers in arms) near the end of the Templar Order (1307). It covers the years right after the mass arrests of Templars in France at the command of King Philip the Fair on Friday, October 13, 1307. Book One opens with all four knights fleeing France, and then each book revolves around one man's story (the fourth knight will have another outcome, I think, other than a romance and love of his own...it's not completely worked out yet, and I'll need to see how the first books of the series are received before I make a final decision). The stories are full of all the elements I like best in a romance: adventure, passion, loyalty, brotherhood, warriors, revenge, betrayal, tortured heroes, and of course, true, healing love. :)) The first book (the one I'm working on now) is a version, I like to say jokingly, of JANE EYRE meets IVANHOE.

10. Do you have any hobbies?


I like to cook, and love to try new recipes, especially healthful but tasty ones. As a family we make it a point to have dinner together at the table every night, and I enjoy making our meals (and dessert!). Other than that, I have a predilection for some of the home improvement/decorating shows.

    What do you like to do when you are not writing or teaching?


Unfortunately, my schedule doesn't leave much time for anything else. Between traveling to and from work, actually teaching, grading papers, trying to write new books, do promotion/revision/galleys etc on books already in process, and taking care of/spending time with my family, I'm lucky most nights to pull off 6-7 hours of sleep. Some day I'd love to learn to do Tai Chi or yoga...but it will have to wait until my life gets a little less hectic, I think. The key is to enjoy it as it comes, I think, and it all falls into place eventually. :)

You can visit Mary and read about her books at her website: http://www.maryreedmccall.com/index.html