Welcome Guest Author Freddy MacKay Today

Welcome to Dawn’s Reading Nook, Freddy MacKay. Please let my cabana boys/girls get you a drink and make yourself at home. Comfortable? Great…now let’s get down to business.

Q: So tell us about yourself. What got you interested in writing? Who are your publisher(s)?

FM: I have always enjoyed writing, I just finally got the nerve to submit something. It took a push from a friend, but I'm going to have to thank him somehow. You should see the smirk he has.

*shakes head*

Currently, my releases are all by Silver Publishing. They are a wonderful family to be a part of and my two series are through them.

Q: What do you consider to be the key elements of a great story?

FM: Umm, that's a hard one. I think it depends on what you want out of the story. It's an individual concept. For me, I like presenting different viewpoints and having personal growth and development or have relationships grow/change or develop in some way. Sometimes its not the person but the growth between them I find fascinating. I hope I always accomplish that.

Q: Could you tell us a little about how you develop your characters? Who has been your favorite character to write? The most challenging?

FM: They usually pop in my head to be honest. I write them out and as I do so, they develop, personality takes shape or is affirmed and I go with it. In my head I can get a pretty good visualization of them, so it tends to just work. If I can’t get a feel for them, I step away and try to figure out why.

My favorite character to write has been Professor Ito from my Finding Peace Series. I love him. He’s a loving tyrant, fiercely loyal and protective of what’s his. He’s actually modeled after a professor I met in college – their personalities are most definitely not the same though. Ito enjoys watching people twitch and making them squirm, the professor I knew was a very sweet person, shy but approachable. So not the same, but there are bits.

My most challenging is/will be Christopher Weib from my Finding Peace Series as well. He is complex, and his story shook me up.

Q: What is your favorite way to relax after a hard day working and writing?

FM: Walking. Or if it’s the weekend, hiking and biking. I love taking late night walks when no one else is out. And I relish the movement as well.

Q: What is the one era you would love to go visit and why?

FM: Honestly? From about 1850 – 1950. So much happened in that time period to change our world – social, economic, scientific, artistic – how cool would it be to witness that? Plus I love steam punk. I actually have a WIP that is steam punk so a time machine would be useful.

Q: What is one historical figure you would love to chat with and why?

FM: Michael Faraday. Without him and his ideas, Einstein would have had nothing.

Q: Please tell us about your latest release. What inspired it?

FM: My latest release is Moving Mountains.

It is a story about a clumsy, but well-meaning graduate student from CRU and his friend who has just graduated. George aka Geeves, grew up with a Dad as a forest ranger and a mom as a scientist and was always caught up with their work so he doesn’t have the easiest time understanding people. He is more at home with his research than people. Max is his friend from the lab he’s in and has wanted George on and off for years and finally decides to make one last push.

This story focuses on the change in their relationship and their fears about it changing. Fear often keeps people from speaking up when they should and can hold them back from finding something good. Sometimes you just have to go out there and grab it ;)

The inspiration actually came from a picture I took at Yellowstone National Park. I pulled it for inspiration for Six Sentence Sunday and it turned into a short story. *Shrugs* Then my friend Andi Anderson kind of cheered me on and it just grew. She really was the best. 

Q: Out of all your books, do you have a favorite one? If not, then which one is closest to your heart?

FM: I don’t think I have a favorite. I tend not to favoritize (is that a word? Hmm… I don’t care, I’m using it) anything. I wrote them/like them for all different reasons.

Beginning Again: Finding Peace 1 is probably closest to my heart because it’s the first story I submitted and had accepted. It also doesn’t shy away from hard issues and takes an honest look at relationships. It’s also cross genre. I have a dedicated M/M series – Sheltered – that Tears for Christmas is from, but I wanted one that had all kinds of relationships in it.

I know some people prefer the different genres to be in their own separate categories, but I wanted a series that delved a little closer to real life that focused on a group of friends and them coming to turn with events that occur in their lives. At the end, hopefully, all of them will be at peace with who they are and what they’ve been through, getting their HEA once the ride is over.

Q: What character out of all your books is the closest to your personality?

FM: *cringes* Geeves. I’m not even joking, but yeah, he’s the most like me. We are scarily similar.

Once very tragically close similarity is being dense. I sometimes say/do something with good intentions and it fires back on me in a big way and it’ll take me a while to figure out exactly what I did.

Q: The editing process is a very important process in an author’s life. How do you define the editing process for any of your books? Is there a routine you follow when in editing mode?

FM: Yes it is. I have a habit of editing as I go. I can get really hung up on a word and can’t write any more until I get it just the way I want it. I know I have some weird hang-ups to words too.

But when I’m solely editing, I try to take a step back from the piece, give it room to breathe and then come back to it. I’ll change fonts, size, etc. and read, trying to disengage from the characters.

Q: What is your process to writing? Do you fly by the seat of your pants and just write? Do you outline your story/characters first then sit and write? Do you use mood music, candles or anything?

FM: I need a scene or an idea or a person stuck in my head. I write the best when I have the ending first. If I don’t see an ending, I have trouble writing. I have to know where the story is going and what I need it to do.

I do have charts for characters and backgrounds made up for them, even if some of the info doesn’t see the light of day in the story, I have it there. I do have outlines. Some are complete, while others are notes scratched down with – this is who, what and where it ends. *Smiles*

I do listen to music when I write about half the time. I can’t when I’m editing though. The lyrics work there way in sometimes – a random word here and there decides to join my story and I have to reread 5 times before I figure out what I did.

Q: What genres and authors would we find you reading when taking a break from your own writing?

FM: I am open to any genre. I own everything from textbooks to manga/graphic novels. I’ll try anything once J My preference is sci-fi though. My favorite book is Shadows Fall By Simon R Green. He throws everything at you in it and I’ve read it so many times it is falling apart. I know I should buy a new copy, but I can’t.

Q: What do you hope readers take with them, after reading one of your stories? What do you hope they feel, or learn?

FM: Well, I hoped they enjoyed the story first most, that they felt some connection with the relationship with the characters or their story. Second, I hope it gets them thinking about human interaction, or their interaction with others. Everything we say or do has the possibility of affect those around us, and with media constantly surrounding us, changing the way people act, I feel its important to have empathy towards my fellow humans.

Q: If you could describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

FM: Clumsy. Open-minded. Well-meaning. (And you know what they say about good intentions right?)

Q: What is the strangest source of writing inspiration you’ve ever had?

FM: I was reading a submission call for Silver’s 25 Days of Christmas and somehow the title, Tears for Christmas, got stuck in my head and I had to write a story for it. I couldn’t not write a story for such a heartbreaking title. I just had to figure out what.

*Grins*

 

 Q:   If your muse were to talk behind your back, what secrets would he/she tell?

FM: Umm, that I have too many conversations with myself. Of course, if you’ve been around me long enough and seen my hand move and my head tilt, you’d agree,

Q: So a bit of naughty truth, do you ever do a little real life research to make your books spicy or do you just have a great imagination? (If you write erotic stories-please disregard if you don’t)

FM: I would say college was a path of exploration for me. *Coughs*

Q: What is the most ridiculous thing that you have thought about doing to any of your characters but never did?

FM: I haven’t met that limit yet J I have a backstory written for Ito and his friends, and well, yeah… poor Abby. He gets the brunt of my humor. And if you’re wondering where Ito’s humor comes from *looks around* yeah, that’s me shining through.

Q: Want to tell us about any projects you are working on?

FM: I’m working on several WIP as well as my July release – Incubation: Finding Peace 2. I have a sequel planned for Danny and Gabe from Tears for Christmas: Sheltered 1. In addition I have several WIP – Branded and Descent of an Angel - for that series in progress because of my participation in Silver Publishing’s Silver Shorts.

In addition, I have outlined Finding Peace 3 which ends David’s arc in the series, or at least where he is the main focus. I’m really excited about how his arc finishes up. Becca’s story will follow his and then I get to do Chris’s story. I have a feeling I will cry a lot in his because his is close to my heart.

Q: What authors do you enjoy reading? Who is on your bookcase/e-reader?

FM: Richard Dawkins and Simon R Green are two of my favorite authors. Dawkins writes non-fiction science/ethics/morals/philosophical related books while Green is a Sci-fi/Fantasy fiction writer.

Q: Anything else you want to add?

FM: Hmm… what can I say without scaring the kids away? Hm? Oh, umm… yeah. I love being able to write about diversity, perception, interactions and people so I hope that is something others will appreciate. I also want to say thanks to Dawn because she’s my beautiful dancing partner and she makes me smile. I will corner her someday and take herhome. Your DH is just going to have to accept that.

Moving Mountains by Freddy MacKay

Silver Publishing

Contemporary M/M

Short Blurb

After being dumped by his lover, George Sanders threw himself into his research burying his broken heart. When his friend Max kisses him, can George figure out what's going before it's too late or will Max leave him for good? 

Long Blurb

George Sanders threw himself into his research trying to bury his broken heart. The past week out in the field gathering research for his doctorate thesis hasn't gone any better than the previous six months. The only positive is the company of his friend, and lab assistant, Max Flint.

Max's behavior has become erratic and their conversations awkward and stilted. When Max kisses him and asks for more, George isn’t sure he can handle his advances, especially if Max is leaving for another university.

Can George figure out what's happening before it's too late and Max leaves him for good? Or will the past keep him from seeing what's been right in front of him for the last four years?

Buy Links:

Silver Publishing: https://spsilverpublishing.com/product_book_info/new-release-c-1/products_id/1054/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Moving-Mountains-Finding-Spin-Off-ebook/dp/B007Z3QY3M/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1

Excerpt

The water splashed out of the basin, soaking George's ripped pants, making him swear under his breath. After tripping, skinning both his knees and hands—nothing broken or sprained, thankfully—George didn't need to add soapy water to the bloody mess. Behind George, Max coughed but the noise sounded a whole lot like laughter so he ignored his friend. The coughing fit got louder which made George shoot Max a dirty look, getting an expression of pity in return.

"Geeves, you don't have to help." Max snickered, deftly bagging anything that could potentially attract wildlife. "You did win the bet."

"It's fine, the sooner we pack out everything and get the food up, the quicker we can get to bed." It made sense, really, it did.

A strangled laugh escaped Max, but he pounded on his chest, coughing again. "Have you looked at yourself? You're a bloody mess! I'm not sure you doing the dishes is even sanitary." Max gave George a sidelong glance, concern glowing in his hazel eyes. "Doesn't the soap hurt your wounds?"

"They're fine," answered George, ignoring Max's mocking tone, but his friend's expression troubled him. "They stopped bleeding during dinner. 'Sides, the soap is just cleaning my hands more, no?"

Max rolled his eyes, but luckily dropped the issue, securing trash and food up and out of the way. Truth be told, George's hands did sting but he needed something to do, he'd been restless since he got back from collecting the water. Max had fawned all over him once he got back, insisting on treating all of the gashes on George's hands, and while his friend bandaged him up the nagging feeling of something being off returned. Keeping busy, by default, ended up being the only way George could deal with the restlessness. He sighed. George finally managed to let the annoying feelings go after a busy day collecting data and deciding what dens should have traps laid out so he could tag more weasels.

They had another week or so out in the forest, living in close quarters, and at some point his friend would get sick of his humbug attitude—no matter how happy and resilient Max was. Everybody had their limit when dealing with pricks. If Max got pissed, it would make everything—data collecting, camp chores, sleeping—more difficult. That's the last thing George needed right now. With all the kits being born and ready to wander out into the wild, wild world, the timing could not be more perfect to get more subjects to tag with radio-implants.

"Geeves?"

"Hm?"

Max squatted next to him, extending his hand toward the plate. "You tossed yourself pretty good, Geeves. Go, crawl in bed, I'll finish up."

"You sure?" George didn't feel tired and had a sneaking suspicion sleeping would not come easy tonight, too sore for his own comfort.

"Yeah, it's fine, Geeves."

"Thanks, M. How about I dry instead?"

Max grinned. "Sure, but let's get your hands rebandaged first."