Author Interview: Michelle Muckley

Please welcome Michelle to my blog today! She is talking a little about her latest release and the inspiration behind it. Also be sure to stop by her Facebook page for your chance to win a paperback copy of her book as well as a goody bag.

What is your name and where do you live now?
My name is Michelle Muckley.  I am originally from Warwick, in Warwickshire, but now live on the southern coast of Cyprus.


First off, how has your week been?
It has actually been completely hectic.  I heard that writer’s are notoriously disorganised, which I think is actually a writer’s disease rather than a personality trait.  Before I was a writer, I had a handle on just about everything I had to do, and now  am all over the place.  This week I have re-edited The Loss of Deference  after becoming aware of the odd typo here and there prior to the paperback release,  and I have spent a lot of time organising this blog tour!  I haven’t discussed me so much in my life.  It is starting to feel like therapy!

Please tell us about your current release.
My current release is called Escaping Life.  It is an emotional thriller about a woman whose mother and sister died four years previously in quite horrible and peculiar circumstances, and she has escaped to live a quiet life with her husband by the sea.  It soon becomes clear to Elizabeth that what she believes to be the truth is not the reality of what happened.  She sets out on a journey to discover what really happened to her sister, and if in fact she even died.  With the help of a detective, who himself is tortured by painful memories from his past, they must uncover the truth of what happened and face up to their demons.  


Where did you come up with the idea to write your book?
Years ago a body was found on a beach.  The Taman Shud case.  To this day he remains unidentified.  That was where the initial idea sprang up from.

Are your books available as eBooks? Were you involved in that process at all? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?
I have become and electronic reader as a result of publishing my own e-book.  I love the simplicity of it.  I go to my PC and within five minutes I have a new book there and waiting for me.  It’s great for discovering new writers and new genres.  But, if I am honest I still prefer paperbacks.  I read a paperback for the first time in about a year last week and realised why I love it so much.  It’s a totally different experience.


Did you have any say in the title / cover of your book?
I decided both title and cover for both published books.  I have an excellent designer who has just reworked the cover for The Loss of Deference and I am over the moon with the results.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
In Escaping Life I cannot deny there is a bit of an underlying theme.  I want people to take the message that there is no point in hiding from the truth, or running from a painful past.  Hiding never helps.  Facing life head-on is the only way forwards, otherwise you are just going around in circles.

Do you have plans for a new book?
There is a third book weeks away from publication and I am so excited about it.  With every book I feel like I have improved and that my writing and storytelling is developing.   This is my favourite of my books so far.


What genre would you place your books into?
My books are definitely thriller/suspense, but there is something else to it.  I try to develop my characters in a way that is very descriptive.  I like creating vivid imagery, which is sometimes not considered part of the thriller genre.

Can you describe the feeling you had when you saw your published book for the first time?
Has anything surprised you about your writing life?
How much I enjoy it.  I used to work in a hospital in cardiology, and loved the buzz and excitement of it.  I never thought that I would find that in writing full time, which is almost what I am doing.   But I love the creation, I love the fact that I can see my own writing develop, and I love the feeling of holding my books in my hands and saying ‘I did that’.  When somebody reads my work and tells me that they enjoyed it, it just makes my day!

BIOGRAPHY
I was born in the town of Warwick in 1981. It is a small historical town in the heart of England, and Ι was the fifth child born into a family of boys. I developed an interest in the written world from a young age, with more than a little help from Roald Dahl. Book club at primary school only proved to increase my love of escaping into the world of a good book.

Whilst six years at secondary school did little to quell the romantic notion of one day sitting in my mountain cabin and smoking a celebratory cigarette as the first novel was born, somewhere within those six years the dream of becoming a writer got put on hold. Perhaps it was because science was deemed a safer career path, or maybe it was because they let me chop up hearts, but I found myself spending more and more time in the biology lab and eventually the university applications went in and the next twelve years of employment were set; science, hearts, although sadly no more dissections.  Somewhere though resting quietly in the background was the desire to find those old aspirations to write, and follow the dream.  It was at this point that I began to write my first book.

Six years later, having uprooted from England and having settled on the southern Mediterranean shores of Cyprus, the dream to publish is now a reality. I am still working as a part time scientist, but I am also writing daily. When I am not sat at the computer you will find me hiking in the mountains, drinking frappe at the beach, or talking to myself in the kitchen in the style of an American celebrity chef.  Just think Ina Garten.  

Find Michelle on her Facebook page and Website.


You can purchase Escaping Life on Amazon.