Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a high school art teacher and mother of four grown children… Grammie of two! I’ve been writing forever, but only worked up the courage to publish after the birth of my first granddaughter. I am the Grammie who writes romance novels!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is “Love Like the Dickens”. It’s a Christmas novel in my Heartswell Harbour series, where Agnes is fulfilling a Bucket List left for her by her deceased sister. One of the items is to perform in “A Christmas Carol”, which is my favorite Christmas story. Almost all of my novels have a dead person somewhere in someone’s past, but I try to have my characters deal with that loss with humor and resilience. The transformation of Scrooge seemed like an interesting theme for Agnes to explore as she copes with the loss of her sister.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I have a weiner dog. His breath would melt the skin off your face, but I write with him on my lap, snuggled under my sweater. He is my muse. My very stinky, very cranky weenie muse.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I adore Elizabeth Gilbert. Anne Patchett. Barbara Kingsolver. But my true heart belongs to Dickens and Shakespeare and the Bronte sisters. Tolkien and Hemingway and Melville. I love words. Wordy words.
What are you working on now?
I’m just beginning to outline a new romance. So far I have a blind date, a dog and a box of erotic romance novels. That’s where it begins, and I have no idea where it will end other than happily ever after. And yes, there will be a dead person in there somewhere!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am very new at the publishing and promoting game, so I don’t actually have a preferred site yet. I promote my books through Story Origin and Bookfunnel and I am just now branching out into opportunities like Awesome Gang. I really love that name. I feel Awesome just typing it here.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write and read, write and read, write and read. Rinse, repeat.
You MUST finish your manuscript. Get to the end, even if its ugly. Abandoning that scruffy little story before it’s finished is the WORST way to learn your craft. Finish. Rinse, repeat.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Hemingway said ‘Write drunk, edit sober’. I love that, because I love wine. No, seriously… I really love wine. But I also love metaphor, and I really connect with the idea of writing with abandon. Loose, free, no second guessing. Drunk on words. This is how I write, and then I shake my head at the end and can’t remember what I did but why am I naked? and whose ring is this on my finger?… and there is almost always a good story there, under the haze.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading Liz Gilbert’s “City of Girls” for the second time, and I’ve just discovered Melanie Summers who writes hilarious romance. I am also reading 500 writing craft and marketing books.
What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing! I would like to finish my Heartswell Harbour series with Book Six and then move on to a new series. I’m not sure what that will be yet, but I have illusions of fame from writing stories about two sisters opening a Food Truck to sell Poutine. If you don’t know what poutine is, you’ll have to follow me to find out. 🙂
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?
Big Magic: Liz Gilbert
Jonathan Livingston Seagull: Richard Bach
The Complete Works of Shakespeare
Fifty Shades of Grey
(One of those is a lie. Can you guess??)
Author Websites and Profiles
Mavis Williams Website
Mavis Williams Amazon Profile
Mavis Williams’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account