Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Although I have written over twenty books, both fiction and non-fiction, writing novels is really my second career. My first career was as a commercial artist in Dallas, Texas. However, back in those years when I thought of myself as an artist, I was also still writing. I served as University Editor for The University of Texas at Dallas, where I wrote and designed collateral material for the various colleges. Then, when I opened my own graphics and advertising company, I designed brochures and newspaper ads and also wrote the copy. I did fashion illustration for several high-fashion boutiques and on a free-lance basis, served as Creative Director for a fashion magazine and got to attend runway fashion shows at the Dallas Apparel Mart, which I especially enjoyed. During all this time, I was also tinkering with a historical novel, which I did finish and still lives in a box on a closet shelf. When I began to write seriously, I joined a local chapter of Romance Writers of America and quickly wrote and sold six Regency Romance Novels. I founded and for sixteen years published The Regency Plume Newsletter, which at once went international and eventually became my full-time job. Since then, I’ve written four more long novels, and about eleven non-fiction books, most of which focus on various aspects of the English Regency. My three Regency Period Furniture books, which only this year, 2015, I turned into e-books, at once attained Best Seller status on Amazon, which thrilled me!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I have three “latest” books, Betsy Ross: Accidental Spy, Stalking A Killer, and my current WIP, The Wrong Miss Fairfax. However, to fully answer the question, I have to start with my novel set in the Colonial American colony of Jamestown in the early 1600s, titled Deceptions. I wrote that book several years ago when I was recovering from a long illness. In an effort to keep from losing my mind, I began to jot down, in longhand on a yellow pad, snippets of scenes as they began to float into my mind. As I began to feel better and could sit at the computer for short periods, I started to write the book and about two years, and tons of research later, I finished it. Then because I thought this is the best book I’ve ever written, I submitted it to a publisher and was overjoyed when it sold! I think the reason I like this book so much is because I wrote it to please me rather than to fit into a specific genre. Deceptions is not a romance but it has a love story; it’s not a mystery, but there is a murder and lots of suspense. It’s mainly just a good, solid story, with interesting and likeable characters, an unusual setting and lots of suspense. Readers have told me it’s the best book they’ve ever read! Others have said they stayed up all night to see what happened next. Nice comments about Deceptions always feel especially gratifying to me, given the awful circumstances under which I wrote that book. But, writing it kept me going at a time when I could have so easily given up. Soon after that, I wrote the sequel to Deceptions, titled Dangerous Secrets, about four young girls who travel to the New World on a Bride Ship. The girls meet some of the same characters who appear in Deceptions. Writing Dangerous Secrets went faster since I had already done all the research, and because the story is every bit as riveting as Deceptions, I also love that book a lot. I was very pleased when it sold it to the same publisher who published Deceptions.
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write next, so I moved up in American history to the Revolutionary War and because I couldn’t find any novels that featured Betsy Ross as the lead character, I decided to write a mystery with Betsy Ross being drawn into the role of spying for the American colonies on the British military officers and ladies who frequented her shop in Philadelphia in 1776. I was pleased when that book sold as well, although to a different publisher. I soon began to write a sequel to my Betsy story, but got side-tracked when I began to wonder if I could actually write a modern-day mystery novel, since all I had ever written were historicals. And that is how Stalking A Killer came to be. I sold it to the same publisher, Mayfair Mysteries, who bought my Betsy Ross book, but sadly, soon after my contemporary murder mystery was released they went out of business. Feeling set adrift, I went back to a Regency romance novel that I had started writing after my first six Regency Romance novels were published. This one is titled The Wrong Miss Fairfax, and it’s the book I’m currently writing. However, when I finish it, I will probably return to the second novel in the Betsy Ross series. The thing that plagues so many writers also plagues me, having way too many story ideas and not enough time to tell them all. But, I’m trying.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Well, not sure how unusual this is, but I often get up in the middle of the night and without turning on a light (I don’t want to wake myself up) I write out scenes or dialogue between characters in longhand on my pink or purple pads. Even though I can’t see what color paper I’m writing on, I much prefer to write on pink or purple pages than the old-fashioned yellow ones. I’ve found that if I don’t write down what is floating through my mind right then, I won’t remember it the next day, so when my characters start talking in my head, I’d better write it down, no matter what time of day or night it is.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Lots of authors have influenced me, but I mainly like to read biographical historical novels by Philippa Gregory, Jean Plaidy, and also Anya Seton novels, written half a century ago.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on The Wrong Miss Fairfax, a Regency Romance novel.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Right now, I don’t have a “best” method. Back when I first began to write, all an author had to do was write the book and when it appeared in bookstores, people bought it. These days, publishing is a whole new world, so authors have to keep trying to get the word out about their books and hope somebody is noticing. I’m still trying to figure out what works.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice for new or aspiring authors is to just keep writing. Keep working on improving your writing style, write the best book you can and always triple check your spelling and grammar. Nothing screams newbie louder than typos, misspelled words, poor grammar and wrong punctuation. And, of course, you also have to write a good book.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I believe the best advice I ever heard came from Gary Provost, who when asked how to write a great novel, replied, “That’s easy, just leave out the boring parts.”
What are you reading now?
I always have four of five books going so when I sit down at night to read, I reach for whatever matches my mood at the time. I read non-fiction, as well as historical novels, but I also read books about Macintosh computers! I love messing with Macs. I have two antique Apple computers, and a newer one. I also have a PC, but I rarely use it. Just can’t figure those things out, but sit me down in front of a Mac and I’m happy!
What’s next for you as a writer?
To keep writing.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Stranded on an island doesn’t sound half bad. I’m sure I’d begin to think about writing a book, so I’d want to have something handy to help me with research, so I’d bring along Elizabethans At Home by Lu Emily Pearson. Then to keep myself sane, and my spirits up, I’d want The Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks. Then because I’m sure I’d have a computer with me, I’d need Mac OS X Snow Leopard, The Missing Manual, by David Pogue; and just so I’d have something fun to read, I’d also bring along Dangerous Secrets by Marilyn Clay.
Author Websites and Profiles
Marilyn Clay Website
Marilyn Clay Amazon Profile
Marilyn Clay Author Profile on Smashwords