SP: Stephanie, could you tell us
something of your background and how you came to be living in Scotland?
SPM: Yes, of course. It’s amazing even to me. I
love Texas and never expected to leave. Then I met my husband, Reverend Alan
McKean, and the only way to live with the man I married was to move to
Scotland!
SP: The things we do for love? Can I ask then, what do you find most inspiring as a
writer about living in Scotland?
SPM: Scotland is a land of scenic beauty in
any direction you look. There is simply nothing ugly or un-inspiring about it.
I love rocks and am endlessly fascinated by the craftsmanship that went into
these awesome, historical rock buildings. And not just the castles. I love all
the rock buildings.
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Stephanie at Fort Rose in Scotland |
SP: You mention rocks in your books quite often, I notice. Was it your environment that prompted you to start writing?
How long have you been writing?
SPM: I have wanted to do nothing else in life
but write books since I was about 10-years-old. My father sold his first book
and came home with a Shetland pony in the back of the station wagon. He bought
Smokey with the advance from his book. When I asked him if his book was true,
he said no. That decided me. I was always getting into trouble for telling tall
tales. I figured that if a person could get paid for telling lies – that was
the job for me!
SP: What a lovely story! What do you prefer writing then? Fiction
or fact and why?
SPM: Oh, fiction. Definitely
fiction—although I do research any time it’s needed, and places, historical
events, characters, and even some of the situations—are based on fact. But I
love spinning threads of imagination into words to catch a plot and build a web
of deceit that will help readers escape the mundane (and perhaps even sane?) when
talking about Texas Miz Mike.
SP: Now I have to ask you this: do you write anything other than
fiction/fact?
SPM: I spent a total of 14 years writing
articles for various newspapers in Georgia, Nevada, and mostly Texas. I have
also sold true stories to Regular Baptist Press for their take home Sunday
School papers. But my first love is fiction.
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The reason Stephanie gave up journalism and went to Sctoland: with her husband , the kilted Alan McKean |
SP: Wow, what a writing background you have! If you had to give the readers here a
tip about how to get started on a book, what would it be?
SPM: The same tip that I read once many years
ago: stick to writing what you know best. And if you don’t know enough—research
it. I think if a writer writes what he or she loves, that will come through in
the book.
SP: Great advice. Now, here's a stock question for you. What is your greatest strength in
life? And then (of course) what do you see as your weakest point?
SPM: Good question! My greatest strength
in life is my Christian faith and my walk with God.Even my flexibility is built on that. I have lived under a bridge, taking baths in the river even during the winter and painting signs for survival. I have lived in the middle of the Nevada desert as a single parent raising a son. I have lived in an open-ended garden center in the Texas Hill Country with birds flying in and out above and toads and other critters coming in at ground level. Now, I have given up my summers of 100+F to live here in Scotland where it’s a miracle if it breaks 70F even in the “summer.” But through it all, two things have sustained me: God and writing.
As for my weakest point, perhaps trusting other people too easily and too much. That sort of answers the question of why I wound up living under a bridge and in the open-ended garden center!
As for my weakest point, perhaps trusting other people too easily and too much. That sort of answers the question of why I wound up living under a bridge and in the open-ended garden center!
SP: I hope you never have to do that again, Stephanie, but if you had to live in isolation for a year with
only one book, what would it be? And do you have any favourite authors? If
so, why do you admire their work?
SPM: More good questions. I could easily
live for a year with just my Bible. I try to read nine chapters from it each day.
Sadly, I seem to fail often given the time spent on book promoting. My favorite
authors are the American mystery-romance-suspense writer Phyllis A. Whitney,
and British mystery writer Agatha Christie.
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Angel Joy, Stephanie's dog has more than a passing place in her wonderful Miz Mike books |
SP: Are you writing anything at the
moment? Can you tell us what it is?
SPM: Thanks for asking this because
it’s exciting! I am working on the eighth Miz Mike. I thought seven would be
the end of the series, then Alan made a suggestion for another…and it took off
so fast that I had to run to keep up with it! In fact, it’s mostly finished,
but I decided it was too short and am adding a chapter to slow down the
non-stop action just a bit to give readers a chance to catch their breath.
“Bridge to Texas” is set back in Texas and is hilariously funny.
SP: All right, last question now! If you had a bucket list, what would
be in the top three positions?
SPM: Aah, you know I simply
don’t have a bucket list. All I have ever wanted to do is write books. I’m
writing books now—so I am 100 percent joyous and content!
Stephanie, thank you so much for joining us on the Sunpenny blog. It's been lovely to have you here and I hope all our readers will enjoy reading a little more about you and your fascinating background.
Links to Stephanie's books can be found here
(The first two books in the Bridge series are Bridge to Nowhere and Bridge Beyond Betrayal)