Official Interview: Dorothy May Mercer

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Official Interview: Dorothy May Mercer

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Afternoon, all! Today's interview is brought to you by Dorothy May Mercer author of Cynthia and Dan. This was book of the month in June 2019. To view it on Amazon (so that you can read it beforehand to discuss it intelligently), click here. It's available through Kindle Unlimited as well, which will help all of you on a tight budget.

To view the official review, click here.

To view the book of the month discussion, click here.

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1. It looks like you live in Michigan. Can you tell us a bit more about your daily life?

My husband Dave and I live in a peaceful part of western Michigan, surrounded by lakes and trees. Our children are grown, so it is just the two of us on a typical work day. Although, he is retired, Dave spends several hours a day in his home office, as do I. It is not unusual for me to grab two coffees at seven in the morning to wake him up, and then go directly to my office and start working in my “jammies.” He keeps my coffee cup filled, runs errands, does laundry and calls me for lunch at noon. We eat, seated by the fireplace where we can eye the birds coming to the feeder and squirrels picking up the leavings. Deer often nibble on our myrtle and frolic in the field. During the summer months we sit outside for lunch on the deck. After a long lunch, visiting and catching up, I go back to work on my writing, editing, publishing or marketing. Dave answers the phone, does upkeep and repair, goes through the mail, manages our investments, takes care of the yard and starts dinner.

By four o’clock, fading fast, I either go for a walk, play the piano or visit with Dave while he cooks. After dinner together, we spend the evening watching tv, or some activity like taking a sunset kayak-paddle on our lake. Unlike me, Dave is prompt, organized and keeps a schedule. He retires at ten o’clock, while I go back to work on my computer, for an hour or two, answering mail and finishing up my “ToDo” list.

We try to take Sundays off.

2. Who has been the biggest influence on you as an author and as a person?

It should be clear, by the previous answer that Dave has been the biggest influence on me in every way. We were high-school sweethearts, have been married for a very long time and raised our family, weathering ups, downs, thick and thin together. We have always talked everything over until we are, as they say, “joined at the hip.” He is not a writer and is more a support than a critic or editor. He is always the first to read my books and loves them.

I learned my craft from childhood, when, first, my parents read to us, and then I devoured books myself. We had very little money, but the library was free. English was one of my favorite subjects throughout school and college. I have always been creative, constantly writing in one way or another. Now, I have author friends with whom I exchange help. There is a wealth of help online as well, in places such as NaNoWriMo and others.

3. According to the author page on Amazon, you also have musical compositions attributed to you? Can you tell us a bit more about that?

My company, Mercer Publications & Ministries, Inc. started, in 1993, as a music publishing company. Even before that I published dba Dorothy Mercer Publishing. This was before the days of online music software and computer publishing. I began publishing printed sheet music by using “rub-off” transfer sheets, which I bought at the local art store. The sheets contained musical staffs and all the notes and symbols necessary. You placed the transfer paper over the staff and rubbed the note or symbol onto the staff in the correct way. If you made a mistake you scraped it off with a razor blade. When finished you took the copy to an offset printer. This music was sold in music stores all over the country, or through the mail by music houses.

I could also write with dark black ink using artist’s pens and a collection of tools and templates for drawing the various lines and such. Later on, when the music typewriter was invented, it was a great step forward, as was the photocopy machine.

I taught music for forty years and composed for my choirs, and my private students in piano and classical guitar. My degree was in music and I worked in churches, community choirs, and even had a small jazz band for a few years. Later I attended seminary, became an ordained minister of music, composed church anthems, taught and wrote healing seminars and sermons and made recordings.

4. Let's talk about Cynthia and Dan: Cyber War. It looks like the 10th book in the McBride series. What do the readers need to know about the series before they pick this book up? Is it a stand alone?

Oh yes, each and every novel is a “stand-alone” page-turner with its own complex, mysterious plot, several sub-plots and satisfying surprise ending. Some of the favorite characters will appear in subsequent novels, however I think of the current novel as a “spin-off” of the Washington McBride Series.

Oftentimes I will lift a “couple” out of one novel and develop a new story around their lives. Cynthia and Dan were minor characters in a previous novel, having met and had a first date in The Fairfax Fix. In this new novel, Cynthia and Dan, Cyber War, we repeat that first-date scene as a flashback and then take off from there.

After two years of dating, their relationship has become stale to the point that Cynthia meets and falls hard for a handsome mysterious stranger named Sky Eastman. Enter more interesting characters and bad guys threatening to blow up the President with drones. Twists and turns go faster and faster. In the end Cynthia makes her choice between the two guys. Read it and find out what happens.

A rarely mentioned but important feature about my print books is that the type is readable and the story is not padded with “filler.” I received an expensive #1 NY Times best-seller, weighty, hard-cover book for Christmas that I could not read because the print was so small, crowded and gray. The price tag was scary, too. In addition to being fast-moving great stories, my books will neither deplete your wallet, tire your arms nor cause your eyes to squint.

5. This novel is in the romantic genre, but from the description, it sounds like it has more going on than that including spies and high-tech equipment, is that correct?

Yes, definitely. All my novels have relationships, human problems, emotion and a touch of romance, often with a wedding. But there is plenty of mystery with evil bad guys, crime, narrow escapes, detailed plots and clever endings.

6. Are any of the characters patterned after anyone you know?

No, the characters in Cynthia and Dan are finely drawn but fictional. However, there are scenes in places I have visited around the Washington D.C. area. Every writer draws on their memories and life experiences. Mine are supplemented by plenty of research and consultation with experts and knowledgeable others.

7. This book includes ISIS and North Korea's supreme leader. Are there important themes here that you want your readers to grasp?

Much of my inspiration was and is taken from the daily news. The cyber war theme is concerned with the rise of terrorism and fundamentalist extremism in the world. In particular, it fights their increasing sophistication with the use of social media and the internet to achieve their goals and to recruit young people to their cause. A pair of young geeks, Tim and Garth, pursue a mission of taking on the enemies of America, by means of cyber warfare, without being detected. This battle is waged entirely from a very high-tech private operation with the ability to reach around the world. Among their many achievements are tricks they play on ISIS and on North Korea’s supreme leader.

Another important theme is the personal dilemma of Cynthia, the heroine, who, as a result of a moment of weakness, finds herself unwed and pregnant. The story takes her through the physical, moral, emotional and ethical issues that might confront any young woman and her devout boyfriend in the same situation today. She also learns about the various birth control methods that are available, how they work and the personal and ethical issues in using them. Maybe this part will help someone, someday.

8. What's in the works for you now?

Cynthia has a cameo appearance in my upcoming novel, E M P Honeymoon, Kelly & Tom. Cynthia’s husband has an important military role as a high-ranking officer in charge of the new United States Space Force.

Once again, I have lifted a young couple who appeared as teenagers in the early McBride Series. In this new book Kelly and Tom Turbulo are on their honeymoon on a Caribbean resort island when Kelly stumbles onto a diabolical plot by a certain despotic Korean leader.
For me, the author, a great deal of research and consultation went into imagining the warfare of the future. It sounds like science fiction but is closer to reality than we realize.

You may know that there is a popular genre which concerns what might happen to people after an Electro Magnetic Pulse devastates the United States. My novel differs in that it has not yet happened. Some terrorists plan to bring about a manmade EMP over North America. We learn how that could be done. An intrepid group of Americans must stop them, but how?

9. And, I always end on some fun questions. What's your favorite book to read?

Actually, I enjoy reading my own novels and others like them. Or, you might say, I write books like those I enjoy reading.
Perhaps you should ask, “What books do you dislike?” I never read fantasy or erotica, unless I am being paid.

10. Are you more of an extrovert or introvert?

Some of each. I’m content spending hours alone but need to socialize occasionally, as well.

11. What's one thing that's on your bucket list?

I’ve done everything on my bucket list but here is one I’d like to repeat:
While oodles of my books are selling, I am out on Lake Michigan catching a king salmon.

12. If you could be any animal, which would you be and why?

A honeybee can fly, has a great body, sounds nice, has a good job, home, place in society, solid communication and support systems and pleasant co-workers. She has a deadly self-defense mechanism which she only uses if threatened, dines on honey and sniffs flowers all day.

Thank you so much, Ms. Mercer, for taking the time to talk to our readers today!
A book is a dream you hold in your hands.
—Neil Gaiman
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Post by LV2R »

Thanks for the thorough interview with Mercer, the author of Cynthia and Dan. Mercer’s lifestyle of a writer sounds very inviting. I look forward to reading this 10th book in the McBride Series. I may need to check out her other books as well.
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Post by kdstrack »

The questions and thorough answers are so satisfying! I especially enjoyed the information Dorothy shared about her writing habits and her favorite animal! Along with LV2R, I want to go back to the beginning of the series to get to know these characters before the get their own series. Thanks for this excellent interview!
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Honey bees play a vital role in our lives. Seed plants produce fruit after pollinators such as bees and butterflies pollinate them by inadvertently transporting pollen from male to female flower parts. It is quiet a very special animal.
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Post by CinWin »

Wow - what a woman!! Any idea as to her age?
Thanks for interviewing her and sharing it with us.
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Post by LV2R »

CinWin wrote: 01 Jun 2019, 18:52 Wow - what a woman!! Any idea as to her age?
Thanks for interviewing her and sharing it with us.
No, I do not know her age, but she must be in her late 20's or early 30's. That is how I pictured her in my mind!
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Post by LV2R »

LV2R wrote: 01 Jun 2019, 21:23
CinWin wrote: 01 Jun 2019, 18:52 Wow - what a woman!! Any idea as to her age?
Thanks for interviewing her and sharing it with us.
No, I do not know her age, but she must be in her late 20's or early 30's. That is how I pictured her in my mind!
Oops! I thought you were asking about the age of Cynthia! Haha.
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Post by Nisha Ward »

Huh. That's a very cool way of writing the series. Now I'm interested in knowing what happens in the others.
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Post by Wriley »

That was a great author interview. I'm going to read some of Mrs. Mercer's books. Her books sound right up my alley. Cyber Wars sounds like a cool book as well.
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Post by Artizi »

This was a fascinating interview. I always enjoy being able to get a glimpse at the mind behind books, whether I enjoy them or not. Kudos!
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Post by Vickie Noel »

What a lovely interview! I especially love the author's relationship with her husband, very encouraging. I also love her method of developing minor characters from previous books and making them major players in their own story. I'm going to go back to the first in the series and watch all the upgrades progressively in subsequent books.
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Post by Manang Muyang »

Wow, Dorothy and her husband live in Eden! They have their own lake, can commune with nature while taking meals, and retire contentedly at night. What can be better? I'm green with envy!
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Post by DC Brown »

Thank you for the interview! I didn't realize she had written so many books prior. I'll have to check them out!
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Post by 56lives »

Dorothy is a prolific writer. Her choice of characters and themes is impeccable. She is honest and open minded. I have not read any of her books but this interview speaks everything about her. Thanks for the interview.
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Post by Verna Coy »

I enjoyed reading this interview for the June Book of the Month. It always helps to have a little bit of insight into how the author thinks. Thanks for the great interview!
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