Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
About MaryAnn Clarke Scott
M. A. Clarke Scott set out to write engaging stories that walk a tight rope between intelligent Women’s Fiction and heart-warming Romance, and it’s caused her nothing but trouble since, beginning with what to call it. In truth, she writes Romantic Women’s Fiction about women healing from past wounds as they define and achieve their own personal happily ever afters.
M. A. Clarke Scott is Chatelaine Grand Prize winner for The Art of Enchantment, first in the Life is a Journey series about young women abroad who discover themselves and fall in love while getting embroiled in other people’s problems. Reconcilable Differences is first in the Having It All series about professional women in Vancouver struggling to balance the challenge and fulfillment of career with the search for identity, love, family and home.
The second book in the Having it All series in called Disruption by Design, and came out January, 2018. The third in this series is expected in the fall of 2019. Book two in the Life is a Journey series, entitled A Forged Affair, is due out in June, 2019.
Clarke Scott is also due to release a new romance novel exclusive to subscribers to her VIP readers group. This sweet & spicy romance is called Single Dad in Studio 7D.
Clarke Scott lives on beautiful Vancouver Island, Canada with her husband and two cats. Although she knows she lives in Paradise, she still loves traveling the world in search of romance, art, good food and new story ideas.
Get M. A.’s newsletter and never miss a new release! Receive FREE short stories and bonus reads by signing up at www.maryannclarkescott.com. Download today- Birdwatching, Interrupted, Reconcilable Differences Deleted Scenes and a sneak preview of her latest release Disruption by Design! Stay in touch to hear about special deals and her next release- A Forged Affair.
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What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
excerpted from blog APRIL 11, 2019 BY M A CLARKE SCOTT
Travel Inspiration for A Forged Affair by author M. A. Clarke Scott
My upcoming release, titled A Forged Affair, will be the third written, though only the second published, in my Life is a Journey series about young women travelling or studying abroad who fall in love while discovering their true selves and getting embroiled in someone else’s problems. Check out Book 1, The Art of Enchantment, set in beautiful Tuscany!
This particular story was born on a family holiday in the south of France – in the province of Aquitaine – exactly ten years ago.
A Dream Come True Vacation
This was a dream-come-true trip for me. I’d just finished training for and cycling the 260 km Ride to Conquer Cancer, and I was eager to cycle the country roads of France, though at that point I could ride circles around my husband and nine year old son.
I absorbed enough memories in that one month to write a dozen books!
Adventure and Culture To Spare
We rented a charming 500-year-old farm house just outside the 600-year-old Plus Beaux Villages (“most beautiful villages”) of Montflaquin. There for over a month, we took a little side trip to Provence and a jaunt north to Chartres and Vimy. The same ancient limestone geography is responsible for the deep caves, the delicious wine and the gorgeous stone architecture in this region of France. (I can seriously geek out over limestone!)
Highlights of the trip included seeing a bit of the Tour de France (south of Lyon), exploring prehistoric cave art near Lascaux, zip-lining in a tall pine forest, and kayaking down the Dordogne river. See if you can recognize some of these adventures in the upcoming book.
We also enjoyed wine-tastings in the Bergerac and Vignobles du Sud-Ouest, farmers’ and artisans’ weekly markets, ancient castles, visits to Carcassonne, Avignon, Bordeaux, Chartres, spending plenty of time sipping cafe-au-lait and eating croissants in outdoor cafés, eating gorgeous French food like Cassoulet, Paella and grilled Merguez sausages (If these sound like Spanish dishes – you’re correct! there’s a lot of cultural cross-fertilization across the Pyrenees mountains) , and stumbling into the most amazing midsummer Medieval Festival – which was really the kickoff for this book. Read a wee excerpt below.
A Perk of Being a Writer ~ More Travel to Inspire More Stories!
There will be several research trips in my future as I plan more books in this exciting series! I see Ireland, Spain and Belgium on the horizon.
What kind of traveller are you? Where have you been that set your imagination soaring?
Reply to this email with your favourite or funniest travel-inspired experience or the best far-flung story you’ve ever read and I’ll share it with the group. I’m always looking for exciting travel books to fill in those gaps when I’m stuck at home in my chair.
Niki Ballantyne loves a thrill. When not riding helicopters, climbing towers and rescuing stranded hikers, her idea of fun is Parcour~ leaping from buildings and flipping through the air. On a holiday in the south of France, away from her rope access job, she meets both sexy Luc and giant Didier at a Medieval festival in the village of Petit Bergeron.
On the cusp of a life-altering decision, Luc is drawn to daredevil Niki, though she upsets his carefully laid plans for the future. Off-the-charts chemistry with Luc doesn’t stop Niki from pushing him away. She’ll take any risk, as long as it doesn’t involve her heart.
Bullied and shy, Didier needs help to win the love of his beloved Amélie. Always willing to help someone else out of a jam, Niki decides to stay until she can sort out the star-crossed giant.
She never lets down her guard, so the friendly arrangement she shares with Didier is perfectly safe. The affair’s not real, so there’s no risk of getting emotionally involved.
But while Niki teaches Didier about romance, and even about intimacy, she gets more than she bargains for. When their forged affair inevitably ends, she learns that in teaching him how to make love, he teaches her a lesson in how to be loved. Will Niki discover that vulnerability is a big part of real relationships? True love requires risk.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really. I love plotting and planning new stories and series, so I use mind-mapping to help with that exercise as I find I don’t think in very linear ways. Lately I’ve been using meditation and binaural programs to help me keep my mind focussed on the task.
Also as the years have passed, I place more and more value on a tightly knit group of writer colleagues. We learn together, set goals and stay accountable, trouble shoot and navigate the challenges of book publishing and marketing.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many I can never answer this question. Over the years I’ve acquired favourites in many different genres, some of which I don’t write in myself. Most recently I’m impressed with a fresh crop of romantic women’s fiction authors who are putting out wonderful stories. Authors such as Christina Lauren, Sally Thorne, Helen Hoang, Camille Pagan, Bethany Chase. I also enjoy Sophie Kinsella, Emily Giffin, Eliza Gordon, Susanna Kearsley, Mary Balogh, Jojo Moyes, Barbara O’Neal, Diana Gabaldon, Eleanor Brown, Freya North, and so many more. And that’s not even touching on my favourite classics or Science Fiction authors.
What are you working on now?
Other than last minute revisions and edits to A Forged Affair and Single Dad in Studio 7D, I have a partial manuscript for Before You Knew Me, book 3 in my Having it All series. There will be three more books in this series after that. I’ve also been outlining a brand new series of romance novels involving a diverse ensemble cast of eight or ten, set in the fictional Pacific Coast city of Port Camosun that will touch on all the favourite tropes in a fresh new way. I’ll be working on this next year. I also have several more Life is a Journey series books planned, set in Spain, Belgium, Ireland and Holland, for starters.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Other than my own website and mailing list, which allows me to connect the most personally with my readers and fans, I tend to hang out on Instagram. But I also drop in to my FB page, to Twitter and enjoy playing with images and ideas on Pinterest.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write. Don’t get caught up trying to perfect your first manuscript. Write it fast, tuck it away and write another couple and keep going. Even once you decide or are given the opportunity to publish a book, the best strategy is to write more, more, more. Make sure you have a few under your belt, or under the bed, before distracting yourself with the challenges of publishing, marketing or your author platform.
Secondly, don’t do any of this in isolation. Find yourself a supportive and smart writers community and learn from them. Writers need friends and mentors.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Let yourself get a dirty, messy rough draft down on paper. It’s been said you can’t edit an empty page. Eventually you will not only accept but come to value revision as an important part of your creative process. Embrace it. But don’t let your internal editor in the room while you’re getting that dirty draft down.
What are you reading now?
I just finished The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. Before that One Paris Summer, a YA novel by Denise Grover Swank, Kulti by Mariana Zapata, Home Game by Odette Stone and before that, The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, and Life and Other Near Death Experiences by Camille Pagan, as well as several Christina Lauren novels, including My Favorite Half-Night Stand which I loved. I haven’t read any historical in a while.
What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing. I’m working hard to get several new titles out in the next two years. Also right now I’m involved in a massive re-branding exercise, which will result in a new logo, pen name, web site, and new titles and covers on two of my books. This is all part of launching my next couple of books this year.
What is your favorite book of all time?
Pride and Prejudice.
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