Featured Interview With M. Gail Grant
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hello! Thank you for speaking with me today. I am thrilled to be joining you. I was born in West Virginia and spent my young childhood years there. When I was thirteen my family moved to the greater Atlanta, Georgia area where I attended middle school, high school, and college. After marriage, I moved to Akron, Ohio for a few years and most recently spent the past ten years in California. Half of that time was in the San Francisco Bay area and the other half was in the San Diego area. A little over a year ago I returned home to north Georgia.
I do have pets! I have two small dogs that are precious to me. My oldest (age 4.5 years) is a maltipoo named Cali. She was a gift from my father and we adore her. My youngest (age 2.5 years) is a chihuahua mix we rescued in San Diego. We named her Chloe. They both LOVE to bark at everything, that includes the wind. It makes life interesting sometimes as I will be writing a scary section of my book, you know, I will be completely submerged in the storyline. Suddenly, they will bark and scare me so bad I can feel my heart-beat coming through my chest. I have to laugh as it keeps things very real.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Some of my oldest memories are going to the library with my mother in the summer and checking out Nancy Drew books. I LOVED them, so much so that I believe I read the entire series. That is where it all began, my love of books. I even remember the ambiance and feeling that would overcome me just walking into the library and being surround by shelves upon shelves of children’s books. The smell of a paperback or hard cover book stuck with me.
I remember vividly middle school summers. I would stay up all hours of the night reading because I just couldn’t put the book down. During my 7th grade year, I was selected to attend a young writer’s camp over the summer. I remember it was called camp SAGA. It was hands down one of the best moments of my life.
I didn’t start writing until about a year ago. My youngest daughter has a love of books and is truly my mini me. We often talk about the books she is currently reading and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to write a book for her. So, I gathered as much information as I could and sat down to write book #1 of the Magdalena Gottschalk series. Those middle school grade years were so influential to me in regards to developing my love of writing, I chose to write my first book series for that age group.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Some of my favorite authors to read are J.D. Robb, Nelson DeMille, and Dan Brown. I tend to be one of those “series” readers. If I pick up a book by an author and like the book, I want to read the entire series. I am currently waiting on Nelson DeMille to come out with the next book in the John Corey series. Radiant Angel came out in 2015 and I am anxiously awaiting the next book!
My inspiration in my writings are my children. I have three girls ages 20, 17, and 10. Two of the three girls have always loved reading. My oldest and youngest read the Harry Potter series beginning to end several times. So, as a family we have a love for magic, the unknown, and the enchanted. The series I have begun combines all of those things in a world where teamwork, friendship, and faith come together in a story full of survival action and adventure.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My most recent book is book #2 of the series titled Magdalena Gottschalk: The Slippery Slope. This was a really fun book to write. It takes place during the holiday season, about a week before Christmas. Magdalena and her friends, also known as MALB (The Mystical Alliance of Lily Brooke), decide to go camping under the stars and do all the fun things that go along with that like roasting smores, swinging on a tire swing, and spooky stories by the campfire.
Magdalena happens to awaken, hearing noises that at first she couldn’t identify. Within moments, she knew the awful sound ringing in her ears was that of the demons’ gatekeepers, the werewolves. Not wanting to bring any harm to her friends, Magdalena sneaks off into the woods to deal with the problem on her own. Little did she know, a trip down the slippery slope would land her into the basement cellar of a haunted mansion with lots of surprises around every corner. The rest of MALB discovers their friend missing and off to the rescue they go. Still shaken from their first adventure, they weren’t quite ready to learn the demons they successfully defeated in book #1 had left a little surprise.
This book took me about three months to write as the storyline picks up at the conclusion of book #1. The first book, Magdalena Gottschalk: The Crooked Trail, has a good bit of background information for the series, making the book longer than book #2 which allowed me to jump right into the action and adventure. Book #3 is in production and expected to go to print late fall this year.
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