In our interview for award-winning author Penelope Marzec, I found her enchanting. Her tales of romance warm the heart as she writes inspirational romances in the spirit of faith, paranormal romances filled with magic, historicals, and contemporaries romance. Her love of adventure comes out in her books and will keep you guessing until the end. She also won EPIC’s eBook Awards. She also has won other awards for some of her books. Don’t miss this delightful group of books by Penelope. She’s awesome!
What made you start writing and when did you?
I started writing one summer at the age of nine. I wrote a paranormal romance with a heroine who could fly. 😊 I wrote it in green ink on a yellow legal pad and illustrated it. I knew it wasn’t good enough to be a published book—mostly because it was short. But I enjoyed the experience of writing so much, I promised myself that someday I would get a book published.
Have you ever had writer’s block and how did you beat it?
There have been times when I couldn’t write due to life circumstances. But sometimes when I was writing, I would hit a wall, which was like painting myself into a corner. But I’d set the manuscript aside for a while and do something else—like fold laundry, or go for a drive. Usually, doing a repetitive, monotonous task would get the gears going in my mind and I’d figure out a solution to the problem.
Do you have any goals on how many books you would write?
I don’t have a particular number of books I want to write, but I still have ideas for stories. So, I’d like to continue writing as long as I have plots in my mindAre your characters based on real life people? Please give an example.
Most of the characters in my books are composite people made up of varying personalities and traits. There are a very few that came from actual people I knew. One of those was Irma in my book Sea of Hope. She was the head of the cafeteria in the school where I first taught. She was one of those folks who was a font of wisdom and had endless patience.
Have you ever needed someone to help you keep writing.
I have always had a driving need to write and my biggest problem is most often a lack of time. Nevertheless, I’ve found plenty of encouragement from the NJ Romance Writers. Their workshops and their 30,000 word challenge in February are a big help.
Do you ever think of a plot while speaking to people and ‘zone out’ then write it out to prevent forgetting it?
This is funny because it has happened to me. Cellphones have made writing notes a lot less obvious, which is great. Of course, my family knows me and often warns me not to use them or any of their problems in my books. 😊
Are any of your characters based on people you know?
As I noted in the answer to question #4, most of my characters are composites except for a very few. But I have often used occupations of people I know in my books. For instance, for a while one of my sisters was doing mosquito research. So, I used the idea of a mosquito researcher in Heaven’s Blue. The heroine is not my sister, but the details of what a mosquito researcher does came from my sister’s experience.
How do you keep going when you finish a book to continue writing new stories?
After I finish a book, I spend time cleaning and organizing all the papers that were part of that book before I go on to the next book. It’s like putting the story to bed and clearing my mind before I start a new project.
What is your favorite part of being a published author?
To me, writing is the best part of being published. Sitting down and typing out my story is fun. I don’t mind all the editing either because it makes the book better. Having the actual paper copy in my hands is delightful but writing is still the best part.
Where do you get your plot ideas?
Plot ideas come from everywhere. With Love’s Gift, I already knew quite a bit about the building of the Transcontinental Railroad because my husband had a model train hobby. From there, I discovered the prejudice the Chinese suffered in this country despite the fact that they were recruited to come here and build the railroad. So, I dove into more research, which I enjoy and eventually pulled together a plot for my young Chinese heroine.
But I’ve gotten ideas from visiting historical sites and from the newspaper, too. The world is full of plots.
Thanks again for the questions!
Penelope
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