Margaret Taylor
I currently live in San
Antonio, TX but that’s state 38 for me, so I’ve been just about everywhere…
Good morning, Margaret! Welcome to Vision and Verse, the Place for Art and Authors. Can you tell us what you've written
I have nine books out
now:
The Seer – Book 1 of The
Shadowcon Series (Urban Fantasy)
Love
On The Edge – Nine Shades of Suspense (Multi-Author Box Set, Romantic
Suspense)
Wow! That;s an impressive list. What is your favorite genre to write?
Anything where I can
just make it up! *laughs* I prefer Fantasy, Science Fiction and Paranormal if
you must know because I really dislike extensive research…
What's your favorite food?
Anything I can eat if
you must know. I love Pasta, Steak and Potatoes, Salad, whatever will fill my
belly.
Are you a tea or coffee drinker?
Neither actually. But,
I love Diet Coke.
Pizza or ice cream?
Either? I’m horrible
about cooking/fixing something to eat, so the easier the better as far as I’m
concerned.
Oh, I hate to fuss, too, especially for just me, so I understand. Where on earth would you like to visit?
Australia and Ireland
and Scotland. I’ve lived all over the world and those are the three places I’ve
never made it too and really want to!
I want to go to Scotland, too. Maybe we can get a planeload of authors together!
Favorite musical artist. Do you
listen to music when you write? What?
Oh my yes. I couldn’t
name a favorite though. I listen to a combination of stations on Pandora – now
that I’ve figured out how to *use* the bloody thing – and just love it! I have
a Dub Step Station, Imagine Dragons Radio, and several 80’s Rock/Ballard
stations that I flip between depending on my mood and what I’m needing to write
at the time.
What makes Margaret Taylor laugh?
Anything but stupid
humor. I’m not a big fan of things like The Hangover, etc, but I love a good
joke and love to be snarky and sarcastic. You’ll find a lot of my heroines are
like that too…
Favorite work of art or sculpture.
Oh wow. That’s a tough
one. I’m not a big “art person” if you must know, but I love older portraits,
the kind done in Oils and such from “back in the day”. I guess it’s because I
stand there and look at them and wonder “What were you thinking?” while you were
being painted. And then my brain goes, “Hmmm, I see a story in there
somewhere…”
How old were you when you started writing?
I was 13 when I penned
my first short story – which was *horrendous* by the way – and I’ve been
writing ever since in some form. I’ve been through the gambit of technology,
from the Old Royal Typewriters (Yes, yes, I had the erasable paper and green
pencil of doom with its little brush on the end!), an IBM Selectric (I thought
I had died and gone to heaven the first time I hit that “correct/erase”
button!) a TRS-80 from Radio Shack all the way up to now, with Windows Cloud
and Office. I’ve always been a writer I suppose, but now is the first time I
have a real shot at doing it for a living…and I am *loving* it!
Describe your perfect evening.
Letting the characters
out to play…
Yes, a truly perfect evening for me is being able to sit back, have my Diet
Coke and pretzels nearby and just write!
Where do you get your inspiration?
Oh everywhere! News
broadcasts, a headline in the paper, conversations with friends, even had a
Tweet one time inspire a book!
What do you do when you get a writer's block?
I’m fortunate. I don’t
get it all that often, I really don’t. But, when I do, it’s usually because a
character in my current work is just being stubborn! So, I pull out something
else (I have about 30 books in various stages of production…), work on it for a
while until Mr. or Mrs. Stubborn gets over themselves and wants to start
playing nice again.
Who is your favorite author?
Oh wow. Another tough
one. I like a little of everything, from the classics such as Tolstoy to
Tolkien to Piers Anthony (I’m a huge fan of his and the first time I jumped
ahead of him in the Fantasy category, I have to admit I did a little happy
squee dance!) to the more modern like Julia Lake Mills, Kate Hill, Catherine
Coulter and so on. It really depends on my mood at the time I guess. I’ve been
reading most of my life and so I’ve had love/hate relationships with a lot of
Authors out there.
Best book you ever read.
Again with the tough
stuff! See above answer…*laughs* I could no sooner pick a “favorite/best book”
as I could cut off my own toe…
Last book you read.
I actually just
finished Julia Lake Mills Dragon Series and LOVED it! She’s totally awesome
with the Hot Alpha Male who will move heaven and earth to save their lady loves
and I love that…:D
What would you do for a living if you weren’t a writer?
What I do now…*laughs*
Yes, I’m being mysterious and that’s all I’m going to say about it…
Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and
why?
Oh, *finally* an easy
question! My mom. Sadly she passed away in 2003 – before she could see my and
her dream come true – but I dedicate every book to her because she truly gave
me a love for reading and writing and sinking into my own head for fun. She was
a Professor of English Literature and I still remember, very vividly, the day
she said to me, “I am so impressed with you honey. You truly have a gift with
words…” I was like 12 I think and I still tear up thinking about it 20+ *cough*
years later.
I miss her and still find myself, every once and a while, picking up the phone
wanting to call her and share my joy over a new book I’ve finished…
If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person, living or
dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why?
Oh, see above answer.
I’d love to have my mom back, just for one day, so she could share the joy in
this journey finally coming to fruition!
What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer?
Never, ever, give up!
Keep working at it. Keep honing your craft.
And, Stephen King said
it best I think: “If you wake up and all you can think about is writing…write!”
Oh, and one more…Give
yourself *permission* to write crap. Complete and utter CRAP! Because, anything
can be fixed in editing…*laughs*
