Mary Moore has been writing historical fiction for more than 15 years. After battling and beating breast cancer, Mary is even more excited about her career, as she incorporates some of her struggles throughout her books, dedicated to encouraging others in the Lord and using her writing for God’s glory.
Her debut novel, The Aristocrat’s Lady, won several acclaimed awards, including the 2011 Reviewers Choice Award by RT Magazine for Best Love Inspired Historical, and the 2011 Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers for Best Book by a Virginia Author. She also received an Award of Merit for Best First Book and Best Long Inspirational by the VRW.
Mary is a native of the Washington, DC area, but she and her husband, Craig, now live in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in southwestern Virginia. When not writing, she loves to read, minister in her church, and spend time with her husband.
Mary would love to hear from you! She can be reached by visiting her website at www.marymooreauthor.com.
What time of the day do you write best and why?
I don’t have a set time to write, but I’m a night owl so that’s when much of it gets done. It’s funny, sometimes I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with an idea for a scene in a current work or a new story altogether. I’ve been keeping my cell phone by my bed so I can record the thought before losing it to sleep!
How long do you write every day when you have a deadline looming?
Wow, when a deadline is looming, I write constantly. I know that keeping deadlines will make my editor and publisher happy, so I work very hard at meeting them. Sometimes it takes long days and long nights.
How long do you write every day when you don’t have a deadline looming and why?
Actually, I think I work more diligently with a deadline hanging over my head.
When I am not under serious time constraints, it’s too easy to talk myself into doing things more pressing, thinking, “I’ll finish that chapter tomorrow,” or, “I’ve got plenty of time to work on that scene I’m not happy with.” I readily admit that it has got to be the same as any other job; you have to work your hours, day in and day out, and that’s my new goal.
How do you begin writing a novel?
What usually happens is I get ideas for stories kind of randomly. But as soon as it comes to me, I make a few notes, and keep it in a file. Then once I start working on it, I supply the surrounding details. Chapters don’t necessarily come to me in order, either, so I have to make a lot more little notes, pulling them out when they are needed. Very scientific, right?
How do you plan? Do you use any outlines, books, formats when you plan your novel?
You know, I haven’t been a novel planner, but I think it is because I only have three books published and I know them inside and out. But I don’t ever want to duplicate locales, names or plots, so I believe a story board is in my very near future. A story board will also help keep secondary characters where they belong. I write Regency novels, and both the hero and heroine have butlers and grandmothers and friends and they are beginning to be too difficult to keep in my head.
Where did the idea come from for the novel you are working on right now?
It actually came from two different circumstances. First, I have faced several severe physical trials in my life and I love to incorporate the experiences, or at least the emotions that come into play with any trial, in my stories. Secondly, ever since I read my first Georgette Heyer Regency, I have loved the “bad boy” (that’s called a rake in that time period) who falls for the last woman he would expect. And a heroine that could care less about catching him! It has been so much fun to write, and it gives many opportunities to include an important spiritual aspect. I hope the humor and the message he learns from a woman who has faced suffering comes through for the reader.
Do you use any visuals for inspiration? (or anything else!)
I do use visuals. It started out as a by-product of what my publisher needed to create the cover of my books, but now it helps me keep a picture of things in my mind from the beginning to the end of the story. The graphic artists love to have examples of what I envision in my mind’s eye. They want a picture of someone famous that closely captures what I see in my head for both the hero and heroine. Regency novels are famous for their beautiful clothing, but the artist isn’t necessarily an expert on that time period, so they need pictures and descriptions. For example, in my newest release, a suit of armor plays an important part in the story, so I spent time researching and saving pictures of the one that is in my imagination. He may never make it to the cover, but it really helps to “know” the people and important details that go along with the period.
How do you get through the “murky middle” of your novel?
As I mentioned, I don’t always write my chapters in order. In that way, I sort of avoid that murky middle. If I can work on the ones that are important to me at the time, and fill in around those, it evens out in the end!
Do you revise every day? If so, how do you organize your revising? What is your revision technique?
I do not revise as I go along. My first goal is to get the story written, warts and all, and into the computer. That’s when my revisions start.
I have a great revision technique, but it is not mine. The idea was given to me as a suggestion by a woman who was a judge of my first contest entry and I consider it one of the most important pieces of advice I have ever received! She told me to always read what I had written back to myself, OUT LOUD! Already knowing the story intimately, you become so familiar with it that it is easy to gloss over sentences you believe are just fine. But when I go into a room, close the door, and then read it out loud, I am amazed at the changes I need to make.
I can “hear” if I start two paragraphs in a row with, “She said…” I can hear if I use the same word twice in two sentences. And I can hear how much better a sentence flows if I just switch a couple of the words around. I try to do that after every chapter, but even when the book is finished and has been revised and re-revised, I do it again, from start to finish. And it’s not easy. Facing a deadline can quickly deter me from reading it all the way through, out loud, again. But I do it. I recommend it whole-heartedly and hope the reader/writers out there profit from it as I did.
Do you have a writing group, or a trusted reader for your novels? If so, how does that work? Do you meet weekly, or only when you have a novel due? Do you share your materials online or in person?
I was in a critique group for a very short time, and decided it was not a good match for the way I write. As I mentioned before, I pretty much work on the whole book before I really start revising. But in the critique group, you might submit a chapter to two or three critique partners. I got excellent feedback, there is no denying that, but I would get a little bogged down in trying to incorporate the different suggestions before moving on to the next chapter. So I did not stay in the group. But if it helps someone to get that important feedback often, I would highly recommend a critique group. No, I am not completely alone in my writing feedback; I have a beloved husband and a beloved sister-in-law who are privy to the first draft of each manuscript. They are both honest and loving and I covet their suggestions. Then as I move into revisions, my husband becomes my first-in-line editor.
What have you learned about your method of writing after publishing your book(s)? Has it changed? If so, how?
I am one of those dinosaurs who still write by hand. (Did you hear the gasps?) Working in an office my whole career, I am well aware when I hit a wrong key on the keyboard (long before spellcheck was invented!). Instead of leaving it for revision time, I was compelled to go back and fix it then. Talk about slowing a process down! I have no explanation for it, but on paper, if I mess up; I just cross it out and continue on. When I get an idea I want to put in a later chapter, I just flip through a handful of pages, make a note and write that scene when I get to it. But here is where I answer your question; I have finally determined that I need to change my method. After handwriting an entire manuscript, I then have to type in the 300 page story and that takes so much time that I don’t have anymore. This dinosaur is finally going to be extinct!
What advice about a writing method would you give to any new writer?
Do what works for you. Your writing method is behind the scenes and known only to you. If a critique group is needed until you feel steady on your feet, by all means, join one. If you revise chapter-by-chapter, that’s awesome; you’ll have less to do at the end. I suppose there are as many different methods as there are authors!
Is there anything you would like to add about writing?
Be tenacious. I wrote 6 of my stories in 1995, but my first wasn’t published until 2011. I was not actively working toward publication most of that time, but the first few times I tried, a rejection letter signaled that my stories were just for me. But I think God knew the perfect timing to become serious about really taking a good hard stab at it to see if that was His plan or not. But I had to hunker down and hone the works, seek representation and work toward publication. And even that takes time and patience, something we all hate.