Another View From Mary Nealy's Window - and a GIVE AWAY!!

I hope you are ready to finish exploring the Ten Plagues with Mary!! We're also going to talk about her jump to this new and exciting genre and what lies ahead for her suspense fiction!

Once again, I'd like for you to welcome Mary Nealy to my Window!!

What led you to switch genres so completely?

I wrote for ten years before I got my first book published and when I finally got my first contract I had twenty finished books on my computer. During those ten years I switched genres a LOT. I decided at some point that if no one was going to publish me, I’d just write to entertain myself. I sold a lot of those twenty books but I’ve got this wild variety of books--probably eight or nine still unsold.

Ten Plagues was one of them. I’d love to sell the rest too, but they’re kind of odd. I’ve probably got five or six more romantic suspense. Three that are sweet romances. One has a mountain woman who grows roses and creates beautiful candles…sniffle. I LOVE that story!

One of those sweet romances includes a stalker so should go to the suspense side? My beloved gothic. One’s a little sci/fi. All of them have at least a bit of comedy which isn’t real welcome in a lot of sweet or suspense novels. Ten Plagues is by far the darkest of them, although the gothic is spooky and takes place in a haunted house (except there are no such things as ghosts, right?) But still...

Where did you get the inspiration for Ten Plagues?

I was reading the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 and all of them are really familiar and I’ve heard people say they had all those other gifts, preaching, teaching, healing, speaking in tongues but I saw that one gift, discerning spirits, and I realized I’d never heard anyone say they had that gift and I wondered why. And what would it be like to walk up to someone and realize you were in the presence of a powerfully good spirit or a terribly evil one. Of course, being an author, I began to ask ‘what if’. And Ten Plagues book grew out of that.

Is it the beginning of a series?

I could totally see Paul and Keren as a detective team but so far no series.

When will you release more suspense fiction?

I don’t know how Ten Plagues sold yet. I’ll find that out in a couple of months. I’m hoping it did well enough for me to have a hope of more romantic suspense novels. We’ll see. Nothing planned so far.

How hard was it to switch genres?

I find it energizing to switch genres. I didn’t really do it for Ten Plagues, although I did a LOT of revisions on an already finished book. Like I said, it was done already. But I have switched genres. The cowboy romantic comedy, I’ve done contemporary sweet romances. I’ve done cozy mysteries. I love jumping around. I think I bring more creativity to the cowboy romances by stepping away from it and then coming back.

Which genre do you enjoy most?

Cowboys will always be my first love. I’ve done very well with romantic comedy with cowboys. But I would love a chance to change things up once in a while.

If you think you would enjoy a copy of this FANTASTIC book! Please leave a comment on this post to be entered for a FREE copy!!

Mary Nealy is the suspense genre pen name for bestselling and award-winning author Mary Connealy, who is best known for her humorous Old West romances. She makes her home with her husband on a ranch in Nebraska. She has four grown daughters.

Please visit her website today to learn more!!