Ask the Author: Marcia Wilson
Answered Questions (15)
Marcia Wilson
Moon Cursers will follow after the third book in the TEST series; I have to clean up a short novella first. My schedule is really tight these days as I am a 17-hour college student also looking for a job! I submit regularly to the MX New Sherlock Holmes stories edited by David Marcum, and I'm actually finishing up the latest submission for that one right now!
(ya caught me before my coffee, so my brain is a little scattery!) Thanks for liking my work! That's one of the things that keeps me going!
(ya caught me before my coffee, so my brain is a little scattery!) Thanks for liking my work! That's one of the things that keeps me going!
Marcia Wilson
They went to the graveyard.
It was vacated.
It was vacated.
Marcia Wilson
Without a doubt, I'd go to Jeffrey E Barlough's WESTERN LIGHTS world. I mean, it would be a disaster for both of us--I refuse to wear those dresses or even color-coordinate; I'd resent living in the safety of the cities. My drinking-well would probably be a portal to some eldritch dimension where Time stands still, the smilodons would see me as an easy dinner, and I'm sure there would be a ghost in the chimney as well as a Lovecraftian devourer in the woods and with all but that tiny scrap on the Pacific Northwest destroyed I'd be sick and tired of the same faces every day...but I'D BE LIVING WITH MAMMOTHS and other megafauna of the Ice Age! I'd get to travel by mammoth!
Marcia Wilson
I can't say I have one. I'm a collector so I'll be reading whatever I grab at the library sale!
Marcia Wilson
That would be the Christmas Contest over who could read the first part of THE MUSGRAVE RITUAL without breaking up. It is in AN ORDINARY MEETING, 2nd chapter titled A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT. Go to the very bottom of the page on my fan fiction and you'll see it!
Marcia Wilson
Brrr....which one?
I'd like to know, REALLY know, about my ancestors and where is the entrance to the cavern they used to mine saltpetre.
There are other mysteries in my life, and some are gruesome. But we'll start with that one.
I'd like to know, REALLY know, about my ancestors and where is the entrance to the cavern they used to mine saltpetre.
There are other mysteries in my life, and some are gruesome. But we'll start with that one.
Marcia Wilson
Hi and thanks! I'm working on the illustrations right now! We had a brief halt with a family emergency but working hard to get everything back together! I'm really hoping the first draft gets to the publisher at the end of April. BTW any of the short stories I put into the MX BOOK OF NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES STORIES also fit into this world. After the TOP books we'll be getting THE MOON-CURSERS, a multi-parter with how the Yard dealt with the Moriarty gang in the wreck of Holmes and Watson fleeing for Switzerland.
Marcia Wilson
The world building.
Marcia Wilson
I have two: Margot Arnold's Penny Spring and Sir Toby Glendower--I read DIRGE FOR A DORSET DRUID when I was a lowly teenager in the 80's and was hooked for life at the combination of a well-established couple, intelligent, equals in every way with their own ability to find answers to the same problem. Plus the plots were always rich with history and natural sciences.
And then we have the inestimable Deborah Grabien's Haunted Ballad Series (a must read if you haven't found them), with again, another excellent couple, the skilled Ringan Laine, musician, and his utterly tone-deaf lover Penny Wintercraft-Hawkes. Again, we have a couple who is close but independent, different in skillsets but trusting of each other. They've all been around the block with previous relationships and found something good with each other now. There's intelligence, and the need to solve long, long dead murders because these deaths have a way of bleeding into the present. I'm not going to rest until I have both authors' complete series on my shelf.
And then we have the inestimable Deborah Grabien's Haunted Ballad Series (a must read if you haven't found them), with again, another excellent couple, the skilled Ringan Laine, musician, and his utterly tone-deaf lover Penny Wintercraft-Hawkes. Again, we have a couple who is close but independent, different in skillsets but trusting of each other. They've all been around the block with previous relationships and found something good with each other now. There's intelligence, and the need to solve long, long dead murders because these deaths have a way of bleeding into the present. I'm not going to rest until I have both authors' complete series on my shelf.
Marcia Wilson
I research as I go because I'm always researching!! Like a lot of writers, I have a shelf of "old friends" which includes the Canon. Every so often Ill read a story and listen to the words that pop up. I want them to feel familiar in my head. My shelf gets bigger every year! I like reading about the past because there is a lot of problem-solving in it. How do people fix things without modern technology? I was taught to look for answers and watch. Because we tend to move forward and not look backward so much, books get "dated" and people get rid of them. I get a lot of good books at used, thrift stores. Biblio.com, abebooks.com, and I live near a Halfpricebooks. There are also really fun places to visit on the Internet. I started with victorianlondon.org and started linking up a little bookmark library from there.
OK. I can't resist researching. I will run off on a tangent and come back later to finish a small scene in a book, but the devil's not the only thing in the details. I've read books where London is always one weather, or one pollution level, and my friends who live there assure me this is not true. When Lestrade eats smelts, I check to see what's in season. I know he didn't eat a Mortgage Lifter tomato, but he was familiar with the pink carrots from the south of England. There are references in books and the Internet where you can find almost anything if you poke around and ask questions, and this is my idea of fun. You mean radishes were black? Mocha isn't a modern word? They used it for pottery? Just how wide is a narrowboat? Oh, look--that's a really unusual way to kill someone off. And so on and so on.
OK. I can't resist researching. I will run off on a tangent and come back later to finish a small scene in a book, but the devil's not the only thing in the details. I've read books where London is always one weather, or one pollution level, and my friends who live there assure me this is not true. When Lestrade eats smelts, I check to see what's in season. I know he didn't eat a Mortgage Lifter tomato, but he was familiar with the pink carrots from the south of England. There are references in books and the Internet where you can find almost anything if you poke around and ask questions, and this is my idea of fun. You mean radishes were black? Mocha isn't a modern word? They used it for pottery? Just how wide is a narrowboat? Oh, look--that's a really unusual way to kill someone off. And so on and so on.
Marcia Wilson
Take a break and do something I loathe. Like loading the dishwasher or sweeping the floor.
Marcia Wilson
Keep writing--even when you are pretty sure it is garbage, just the act of writing will help you develop your skill. And do NOT turn down those writing challenges! You will literally feel your brain stretch when you are told "500 word mystery using (blank) as a protagonist and the last word has to have a "y" inside it.
Marcia Wilson
A Sherlock Holmes short story for the MX Anthology, as well as the sequel to the upcoming Test of the Professionals
Marcia Wilson
Writing is the "me" time for the day. My brain literally sets itself aside and I have to do what it says.
Marcia Wilson
I'm always asking myself questions, and well...I'm never short on ideas because of this! The real problem is picking which idea to work on first...
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