Author Interview with Mary Ellen Quire

In the thousands of years that humans have been telling stories, we have been known to repeat ourselves. Sometimes this is done intentionally in order to keep a classic tale relevant and familiar to new generations of readers. Other times, we retell a story from our own perspective because it’s new to us. Either way, we strive for originality, using our unique perspectives and experimental writing choices to pull this off.

Writer Mary Ellen Quire has written five books that cannot be easily compared with any other books out there. Blending different genres and writing styles, she has created stories whose concepts set themselves apart from others. This brave execution of writing inspires the curiosity that readers need in order to consider adding a writer’s book to their collection, or at least to their to-read list.

1. How many books have you written and where can you buy them?

I have written five books total, two of them (Link Detonator and Detonator Time’s Up—penned under the name Mary E. Rose) are no longer in print but you can still find copies of both books floating around various online venues.

My third book, Dark Deliverance, is available online (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.).

My fourth, Fairview, is a compilation of short stories and is only in e-book format but it can also be purchased online as well (Smashwords can be added to the stores for this one).

Sheldon’s Diary is available in nearly all online stores, minus Smashwords, and in some brick and mortar venues such as Karen’s Book Barn in LaGrange, Kentucky.

2.What famous books can you compare to your own?

To be honest, I have no real idea. As far as I know the Detonator books are unlike anything I’ve yet to find.

Dark Deliverance is in the Urban Paranormal genre and there’s a host of mythical characters, but once again, I’ve yet to read anything like it.

Fairview is a collection of short stories so I guess if you can find compilations with paranormal, speculative, horror, and young adult within them, then you’d have a comparison. I’ve yet to find it though.

Sheldon’s Diary? Well, there are a lot of pet diaries out there, some film too. However, I believe this book is a bit different from those because it is based on the whole middle-age knights/ladies society among animals and I have yet to see anything with this take on a pet diary.

3. Why do you write for this particular age group?

Sheldon’s Diary and Dark Deliverance would probably both fit nicely in young adult, although I’ve seen both placed in adult fiction. As far as why I write for this age group, I’d have to say it is mainly because the audience is open-minded allowing for a lot of colorful scenes to take place. In younger and older groups, this is not usually possible.

4. How autobiographical are your books?

I think every writer puts a little of themselves into the characters or situations they create. For Sheldon’s Diary, you will find actual friend and family members of mine in the stories. For Dark Deliverance, it’s a bit more complicated and you have to dig deeper to find it, but if I were to give an example then I’d say the main character, Cora, would be the closest to me in that she is a single mom who find herself in many sticky situations.

5. What’s the best compliment that you’ve ever received about your writing?

The best compliment I’ve received was from my stepmom who attended my last book signing for Sheldon’s Diary. She told me she’d read everything I’d written in the past and thought that this book was by far the best. When she told me my Dad, who passed several years ago, would be proud of me it brought tears to my eyes.

6. What has been your greatest moment as a writer so far?

There have been a lot of moments, but I think the best one was the most recent when an author/publisher asked me to be a panelist for an upcoming writing convention (Imaginarium 2016). It was an honor to even be asked.

7. Where do you get your covers?

The covers of four of my books were created by the publisher and two of them really seemed to fit the book they represented. As for the fifth one, Fairview, the cover was designed from a picture I took locally. It was just so beautiful to me that I couldn’t resist.

8. Who is your biggest fan?

Everyone in my circle of family and friend are extremely supportive, but as far as who is the biggest fan, I can’t say for sure.

9. What is next for you?

Sheldon’s Diary is an ongoing project, so I hope to have other books to follow it. There are also other books in the works. I have a mystery series that I hope to get out there soon, a fictional book about a female assassin, and a paranormal book that has a local Kentucky flair to it.

10. End with a quote.

My favorite quote (and it isn’t mine, but oh how I wish it had been) is from one of my favorite authors.

“Never's the word God listens for when he needs a laugh.”
― Stephen King, The Dark Tower

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