Interview with Marion Croslydon

Hey all you readers and writers! Emma Michaels here to introduce our guest author of the day

Marion Croslydon!

Hello Marion and welcome to The Writers Voice.

Thank you to The Writers Voice for having me today. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about my life as a writer and what I love as a reader.

Are the traits of anyone close to you apparent in your characters?

My husband has clearly been an inspiration for the first hero I created. Rupert is the male lead in my New Adult paranormal romance trilogy, The Oxford Trilogy. Like Rupert, he is an upper-class Brit (although not an Earl!): Posh, sometimes stuck-up, but with fire burning under the ice. They both can wear a tux like nobody else. Both can also be very reserved (maybe because deep down they’re shy) and people can misinterpret their behavior for snobbery.

I think it’s actually easier to create characters that aren’t too close personality-wise to people I know and love. I have more creative leeway!

What would you like for readers to take away from your novel/novels?

How important (and challenging) it is to be true to yourself, and that love is a complex thing.

What is your biggest pet peeve in fiction writing?

As a reader, I strongly believe that the difference between a bad, a good, or an excellent book lies in the strength on its characters. Readers will forget about the nitty-gritty of a plot, the content of a scene, but they will walk away with what they’ve experienced through characters. That’s what they’ll keep with them for the next day... or the rest of their lives.

That said… I think there’s a trend at the moment to focus only on the characters (especially the love story or the sexual chemistry) and to forget about a solid (even if simple) plot to take those characters on a journey.

Another one of my pet peeves as a reader is when, after falling in love with an author, that same author rehashes the same characters or plot over and over again.

I can understand the temptation for a writer to keep using a formula (one that they have created and has seduced readers), but long-term, I also expect from my favorite writers to renew themselves, their sources of inspiration, their setting, their characters, and even their genre.

Where do you do your best writing? Do you like to have certain surroundings?

I admire writers who can write wherever and whenever. I need to be in my Writing Cave, i.e. a small office, all stuffy and dark, but MINE.

I also can’t write with people around me, especially not my daughter. I can’t even write if she’s in the house because all my energy—physical and mental—goes to her.

If you could live in one book for a day, what would it be?

North and South by John Jakes.

When you were growing up, what did you want to be?

I have always wanted to be a writer, for as far as I can remember… and I’ve always wanted to write romance!

Thank you for stopping by

The Writers Voice