Featured Interview With M.D. Stewart
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m from a small area of southern West Virginia called St. Albans, near the capitol city of Charleston. In 1986, when I was eighteen, I moved to Ohio to be with my husband, whom I met in college. He ended up joining the Navy and we traveled up and down the East Coast. We parted ways and I was blessed with two boys. In 1995 started Beauty School and I ended up going back there to teach after a year of working in salons. After more than a decade of instructing, I starting working for the State Cosmetology Licensing Board.
In 2006, I met my current husband, who was a coal miner. He retired from the mine April 5, 2010. He was underground when the mine, Upper Big Branch, blew up. That was such a difficult time in our lives and it took years of therapy and lots of time to start the healing process. I retired in 2013 mostly due to the diagnosis of Black Lung my husband received. I wanted to spend time with him while we were both healthy enough to do the things we liked, like camping, gardening and canning.
We live in Boone County, West Virginia with our beagle Lady, two cats, and six chickens.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I have always loved music, reading and writing. I remember my mom having a living room end table that had storage underneath it. She kept her romance novels in one end table. I would sneak books out and read them starting when I was probably eight to ten years old! At that age, I didn’t understand everything the characters did, but as I grew up I did!
I took to writing poetry and eventually writing fan fiction on an author’s fan page about 20 years ago (which you know you can’t publish due to copywrite laws) but I got the writing bug then. I still have copies of those in my dresser drawer!
I started to seriously consider writing my own books when I found several unfinished books on my computer. I reread them and thought “not too bad”. I expanded on those stories and when I told my husband last year I was writing a book from a dream I had he just shrugged and said, “cool”.
I read articles on how to be successful at eBooks and his advice was to have several ready to go so fans can search for things you’ve written. He also suggested and editor. Best advice ever.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My first author I had to have every book they’d written was Christine Feehan. That was before eBooks. Actually I had all her paperbacks, also Diana Gabaldon (still have all her books), Nora Roberts, Cassie Edwards, Julie Garwood, and so many others that at one point I had close to two hundred fifty paperbacks!
Now with eBooks, I have every book put out by Laurann Dohner and Em Petrova (who happens to be my editor). I love J.R. Rain who introduced me to serial books in eBook format, and Evangeline Anderson’s Kindred books made me fall in love with hunky aliens. With Ms. Dohner, of course her New Species books captured me as a die-hard fan but now I have all her series. Her writing is top notch and her stories are engaging so I want to be just like her. She also was kind enough to give me advice and support then shared with me her cover artist for my latest books.
I buy lots of books so I have too many authors to name here! I just love to read and try out new authors.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book, Aoki, is a spin off of my original Psy-Bond Series. It’s from a character I met in the third book called The Hunter and expanded in the fourth book, Saving the Elite. I just fell in love with him. In the third book, he’s introduced as the main character’s cousin and in the fourth book, Aoki comes into his own when his adopted brother tries to murder anyone not from his home world. His book took me forever to write because I’d type, hate it and delete it and start over. My inspiration for Aoki is Brock O’Hurn so I thought the man deserved a hot, sexy book with a great story. I think I finally got it too.
The shame Aoki feels at his brother’s treachery on his home world, leads him leave Otron for an experimental program on Earth where humans temporarily live with aliens from Otron and the Beings (aliens introduced in the Psy-Bond Series) to learn about each other’s culture. While at the Exchange House he meets the male Being alien named Flynn and the human female Charley who is only there because the military thought she was a man because of her name. Of course each person has their own issues. Aoki is filled with shame from his brother’s actions on Otron and feels he’ll be judged harshly. He’s afraid to trust too deeply.
Flynn has just gained emotions since his people, The Beings, have lost their ability to feel for generations. They’ve spent years dedicated to the study of science and space travel. He was part of the group of Beings secretly on Earth studying humans to find out why his people could no longer procreate. His new emotions are so foreign to him and he’s not sure how to act or react.
Charley is overweight and suffers with lots of self-esteem issues. She is attracted to both gorgeous male aliens but feels they could never be attracted to her. Together they each have to learn not only each other’s culture but how to love and trust each other in an unusual ménage relationship.
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girlfromwva says
very interesting blog article. i was born in WVA, grew up im Ohio. will have to add ur books to my list.