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Interview with Author Marguerite Gruen









1.   Give us a brief synopsis of your latest work.

The Band 4 - The Air We Breathe is a love story. It has a supernatural twist which distinguishes it from other love stories.  When people read it – I want them to feel the love between the 2 main characters Marguerite and Chase.  It’s about the story of their lives together which includes Chase’s bandmates whom he considers brothers.  They are one-quarter of each other not one-quarter of the band and also his best friend Ed whom everyone should pay special attention to.  Marguerite meets Chase in a coffee shop in London the night before he was going to go to the studio to quit the band.  Quit his brothers. The turmoil, anxiety, and distress he was in was unbearable.  She was on a Holiday after just escaping her own turmoil - being held almost captive by her strict and overbearing parents.  She feels someone in distress in the coffee shop and it stuns her because she doesn’t know anyone in London – she just got there.  She pinpoints the distress to Chase and goes to the clerk and asks what he is drinking and can he make it in decaf. She goes to his table – takes his coffee right from his hands and slides over the cup of decaf.  She tells him ‘I can feel your anxiety 6 tables away – you should stay away from caffeine’.   He follows her right to her table and asks if he could join her.  That starts the story of their lives together. 

2. What got you into writing?

I had a dream one night.  I couldn’t stop thinking about it so I felt it was trying to tell me something.  I sat down one afternoon and just wrote out the dream.  All of a sudden I kept picturing this couple and imagining things they would go through.  Throughout the day I would write myself little notes on a thought I had about a story line for a chapter.  Then at night I would write it out and expand on it.  I don’t know what triggered that dream. 

3.  What genres do you like to read?

Fantasy, Love stories, Time Travel.

4.  What is your process for developing characters? Do you people watch and base characters off of what you see? Or are your characters complete figments of your imagination?

It depends on what I am doing. When I wrote the part of Chase – I was watching the series Reign about Mary Queen of Scots and the man that played her husband – King Francis of France was Toby Regbo.  I loved the way he treated her.  The gentleness in his voice when he spoke to her and how he cherished her.  So I based Chase after him.  Then I wrote in Chase’s best friend Ed.  I was listening to Ed Sheeran at the time and I love red hair.  So – I based Ed off of Ed Sheeran.

5.  How much time and effort do you put into marketing?

I do as many book signings as I can but you have to be careful.  I try and do wine festivals because what goes better with wine than a good book to read.  But the charge for the table outweighs what you would make so I can only do the festivals I could afford.  I also am on social media a lot. The problem with that is – yes everyone supports you but no one goes to Amazon to actually buy the book.  It is a lot of work. The same thing with on line book clubs.  They tweet your book to 100,000 members but hardly anyone actually buys your book.  I think that is mainly because there are so many of us out there.  We all are looking for the same thing.  Someone to buy or notice our books.

6.  Do you have any works in mind that you’ve not yet written? If so, what are they?

I am writing a 4th book not related to The Band 4 Trilogy.  I love college basketball and March Madness.  So the new book will be a love story and about a player on a college basketball team who sees his life spinning out of control until he meets someone whom he feels is the only person to save him from destroying his life.

7.  If there is one thing that stands out about your writing or your stories, what is it?

I love romance.  I want everyone to feel the love between Chase and Marguerite.  Everyone who has read the book feels I did accomplish that.
8.  What inspired you to write your most recent story?
I wrote the sequel ‘Ed for Love and Hope’ mainly because everyone kept asking for more.  They wanted to read more about this couple because they loved them so much.

9.  Where can potential readers find your work?

Amazon or any website that sells books

10. Where can readers connect with you socially online?

Website-Margueritegruen.com
Twitter-band4lovestory
Facebook- www.facebook.com/people/Marguerite-Gruen/100011368067706





BIO:



Inspired to write this story by a dream she simply couldn't get out of her head, Marguerite Nardone Gruen has enjoyed every step of this journey, laughing and crying along with her characters as they slowly took shape and came to life. While writing the final line was bittersweet, she is thrilled to share this dream, and its heart, with her readers. Marguerite is an avid football fan and loves March madness college basketball. She lives with her husband of 35 years, in Pennsylvania.





Comments

  1. joycewhiteJuly 28, 2017 at 11:01 AM

    Im often giving ideas for writing in my dreams. Perhaps they are messages from our creative angels that we need to listen to. Enjoyed your interview and web. Joyce

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownJuly 31, 2017 at 8:48 AM

      Thank you Joyce. I just couldn't shake that dream and look what happened. My book will now be a trilogy. I still can't believe I did this.

      Delete
    2. Linda Barnett-JohnsonJuly 31, 2017 at 10:14 AM

      I also suggest writing down the dreams you remember and weaving them into a story. You never know where it will take you. Thanks for your comment.

      Delete
  2. UnknownJuly 31, 2017 at 8:46 AM

    Thank you for the interview Linda and for everything you've helped me with.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Linda Barnett-JohnsonJuly 31, 2017 at 10:13 AM

      Glad you let me interview you. I'm trying to get more blogs to get interview for my clients. I'm happy you had a comment.

      Delete

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