PUMP UP YOU BOOK BLOG TOUR
GIVEAWAY ENDEDMY SISTER'S VOICE
BY MARY CARTER
At twenty-eight, Lacey Gears is exactly where she wants to be. An up-and-coming, proudly Deaf artist in Philadelphia, she’s in a relationship with a wonderful man and rarely thinks about her difficult childhood in a home for disabled orphans. That is, until Lacey receives a letter that begins, “You have a sister. A twin to be exact…”
Learning her identical, hearing twin, Monica, experienced the normal childhood she was denied resurrects all of Lacey’s grief, and she angrily sets out to find Monica and her biological parents. But the truth about Monica’s life, their brief shared past, and the reason for the twins’ separation is far from simple. And for every one of Lacey’s questions that’s answered, others are raised, more baffling and profound.
Complex, moving, and beautifully told, My Sister’s Voice is a novel about sisterhood, love of every shape, and the stories we cling to until real life comes crashing in…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
MARY CARTER is a freelance writer and novelist. My Sister’s Voice is her fourth novel with Kensington. Her other works include: She’ll Take It, Accidentally Engaged, Sunnyside Blues, and The Honeymoon House in the best selling anthology Almost Home. She is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, which is part of the Rochester Institute of Technology. She has just completed A Very Maui Christmas, a new novella for Kensington that will be included in a Christmas of 2010 anthology. She is currently working on a new novel, The Pub Across the Pond, about an American woman who swears off all Irish men only to learn she’s won a pub in Ireland. Readers are welcome to visit her at marycarterbooks.com.
1. Thank you for agreeing to this interview. First, however, let's find out a little about the author of MY SISTER'S VOICE, Mary Carter.
MARY CARTER is a freelance writer and novelist. My Sister’s Voice is her fourth novel with Kensington. Her other works include: She’ll Take It, Accidentally Engaged, Sunnyside Blues, and The Honeymoon House in the best selling anthology Almost Home. She is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, which is part of the Rochester Institute of Technology. She has just completed A Very Maui Christmas, a new novella for Kensington that will be included in a Christmas of 2010 anthology. She is currently working on a new novel, The Pub Across the Pond, about an American woman who swears off all Irish men only to learn she’s won a pub in Ireland. Readers are welcome to visit her at marycarterbooks.com.
2. What is the next or current book/project you are working on?
I just completed the novella, A Very Maui Christmas, which will be out next December in an anthology (anthology not yet titled) headlining Fern Michaels. Currently I am working on my 2011 novel, The Pub Across the Pond, about an American woman who, after swearing off all Irish men, wins a pub in Ireland.
3. What have you just finished reading?
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Wells. Funny, and heartbreaking memoir that reads like a great novel.
4. What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out?
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. My Essays by Herman Hesse. Time and Again by Jack Finney. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Growing up I read constantly and therefore must include: Sam Bangs and Moonshine, The Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles, The Chronicles of Narnia, Nancy Drew, and Dr. Seuss.
5. What gets you started on a new book? A character or story idea or….?
It can go either way, and can be difficult to extrapolate the two since they often go hand in hand. For my first novel, She’ll Take It, it started with the character of Melanie. I knew she’d be a struggling young actress. For my second novel, Accidentally Engaged, it was more about the idea of a psychic getting herself into trouble with her predictions, and the specific character grew from there. So even if it begins with an idea, the idea is about the character. For Sunnyside Blues I knew it would be about a single woman who ends up with custody of a child that is not hers, and for My Sister’s Voice, I knew it would be a book about sisters.
6. What is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don’t know?
Prior to My Sister’s Voice, I would have told you that in addition to writing, I am a certified sign language interpreter, but I think that cat is out of the bag. So I guess I will tell you that the novel I am writing now is due in part to my obsession with all things Irish, and this summer I am going to Ireland (for the first time) to research the book.
7. What is your best advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?
Read, read, read, read, and read some more. Read books on writing, or take a class, or join a writer’s group. And of course, write.
8. What is something you would like to share with us about writing your favorite genre in general?
Genre’s are very important to the publishing industry. However, as a writer, what excites me is a good story, and the building blocks to tell one crosses all genres. I like reading all genres as well. Some days I want nothing but a good suspense story, other days a contemporary romance or mainstream fiction book, sometimes the classics. I like non-fiction books that read like novels such as The Devil in the White City, or more recently, The Glass Castle. I love the craft of writing. I hate first drafts but I absolutely love rewriting. I still read books on writing all the time, and I always want my next book to be better than the last.
Thank you, Mary, for the interview and your wonderful book, MY SISTER'S VOICE
THANKS TO DOROTHY AND PUMP
UP YOUR BOOK TOURS, I HAVE ONE
COPY OF MY SISTER'S VOICE TO
GIVE AWAY TO A LUCKY WINNER!
--NO P. O. BOXES
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HOW TO ENTER:
+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING INTERESTING YOU FIND WHEN YOU GO TO MARY CARTER'S WEBSITE HERE
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6 PM, EST, APRIL 29!
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