Born and raised in Manhattan, I have lived in
the Boston area since just after the blizzard of 1976, thus missing the
opportunity to abandon my car in a snowbank and walk home. I am the daughter of
a painter and the mother of three grown sons. An avid science fiction fan, I
selected Robert A. Heinlein's "Farmer in the Sky" for my tenth
birthday, now long past. I live outside of Boston with my partner and a large
number of dogs.Thanks to my father's relentless hounding, I can still recite
the rules for pronoun agreement in both English and French.
When Major Brad Reynolds is assigned to head
the Terran Federation base on planet Aleyne, the last thing he expects is to find
is love, and certainly not with one of the alien Aleyni. But can he keep his
lover, in the face of political maneuvering and of Ardaval's feelings for his
former partners -- and theirs for him?
And the blurb for her earlier novel 'Relocated':
When fourteen-year-old Keth's dad is transferred
to planet Aleyne, he doesn't know what to expect. Certainly not to discover Dad
grew up here, and studied with Ardaval, a noted Aleyni scholar. On Aleyne, Keth’s
psi ability develops. However, psi is illegal in the Terran Federation. After a
dangerous encounter with two Terran teenagers
conflict erupts between Keth and his father. Keth seeks sanctuary with
Ardaval. Studying with the Aleyne
scholar Keth learns the truth about his own heritage. After Keth's friend's
father, Mazos, is kidnapped, Keth ignores the risks and attempts to free him.
Little does he realize who will pay the cost as he becomes involved with
terrorists.
Review for "Relocated"":"Relocated has a special kind of magic to it. It opens you up to a world you realize you are just not ready to leave when it's over."
Review for "Relocated"":"Relocated has a special kind of magic to it. It opens you up to a world you realize you are just not ready to leave when it's over."
Before treating us to an excerpt from 'Broken Bonds', Margaret Reveals:
From where do you get inspiration and what
inspired you to write your latest book?
Margaret's digital art impression of the Aleyni landscape |
Broken Bonds, which will be available in July
from MuseItUpPublishing http://museituppublishing.blogspot.com/ was inspired by a question I asked myself
about backstory in Relocated http://tinyurl.com/MuseRelocated. The character, Ardaval, lives alone in a
large house, and I asked myself what happened to his former partners. I ended up with a single sentence in
Relocated, but the relationship and the
reason for the breakup haunted me, so I ended up writing another novel about
it.
In a couple of sentences, describe the hero’s
character. What do you like best/least
about him?
He's a private person, passionate about his values, tolerant, open-minded, and insightful. In
Myers-Briggs terms, he's "Dominant Introverted Feeling." http://www.personalitypathways.com/dom-fi.html
The thing I most admire about Brad is his
willingness to move out of his comfort zone -- way out -- when it becomes clear
he won't hold onto his relationship with Ardaval unless he mends the broken
bonds of the old one.
And the heroine. How do you relate to her?
Actually, Brad ends up involved in a four-way
romance with two other men and a woman. Ardaval and Brad get together in
Chapter one, and Ardaval was the character I asked the question about. Imarin
and Nidrani are a man and a woman from Ardaval's broken rolor bond. My aliens
typically form multi-partner relationships, and four is the norm. Brad has a
number of misgivings about this, not the least of which is his reaction to Nidrani.
I play the flute and the piccolo, and when I
was trying to pinpoint Nidrani's personality, I ended up making her a musician.
She plays an alien stringed instrument called a rill, which I picture as
something like an autoharp.
When I was trying to get Nidrani clear in my
head, I started a couple of Pinterest boards, one of which was for clothing.
Nidrani's things were the first I picked out, from a lovely site called
Polyvore (http://www.polyvore.com/
Who controls the story – you or your
characters?
We both have our say. I start out with the
initial setup -- characters, setting, conflict, and a relatively loose outline
of the story -- about a page of notes. Then I start writing. However, I'm
frequently surprised by my characters, who refuse to conform to my preconceived
views about them.
Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?
What would be your tips to overcome it?
I sometimes suffer from a reluctance to work,
especially as I work full-time as a computer software engineer. Either I give
in to it and spend an evening doing something else, or I glue my butt to th
chair and write anyway. Or I may write a scene that's out of sequence, write
something from a point of view that I don't intend to end up in the book. Write
a flash piece with the character. I
usually type my stuff right into the computer, but if I'm stuck, I've
discovered writing with pen and paper helps. I read somewhere it engages a
different part of the brain, so perhaps that's why.
What can we look forward to from you in the
near future?
Broken Bonds, due out in July, is an adult sci
fi romance. I also have a YA sci fi, Geek Games, due out in November. I'd also
like to put together another collection of poetry, and I'm working on another
adult sci fi novel. I'm part way through the first draft on that one.
How do you like to spend your free time?
Reading, writing, playing music, walking our
dogs, weeding the garden. I recently
completed an online song-writing course.
What was your favourite book as a
child/teen/adult? Are you currently reading anything?
I had a couple of favorites as a kid: James M.
Barry's Peter Pan, and the Landmark biography of Saint Patrick. The latter is
especially surprising since my family of origin is Jewish. However, I've never let trivial like that
keep from reading any interesting printed material.
When I was in college, my favorite book was
Alice in Wonderland, the annotated edition. As a true book junky, I discovered
the only way for me to keep studying was to avoid checking any books out of the
library. Then, suffering from bad Book Withdrawal, I'd reread Alice. I also
taught myself to write backwards and wiggle my ears. They were all so much more entertaining that
studying.
And now A Taste of Margaret
Excerpt from Broken Bonds:
Brad took a deep breath of cool night air,
inhaling the nutmeg scent of the flowers planted around Ardaval's front door.
Before Brad could knock, the door opened and Ardaval stood in the doorway. Brad
hesitated before putting out his hands palm up.
Ardaval placed his hands over Brad's. "My
heart, my home, my hearth."
"My hearth, my home, my heart," Brad
murmured in response.
Smiling, Ardaval directed his gaze at Brad's
eyes; it evoked the same curious flutter in the pit of his stomach as the last
time they'd met. Ardaval held open the door and gestured for Brad to enter.
"You've come to discuss Gavin."
"I have." Brad followed Ardaval into
the front hall where tiles of local stone sparkled on the floor and a padded
bench stood under a window. Through a doorway on one side, a glance revealed a
kitchen furnished with dark wood cabinets, clean and a bit bare.
"Come." Ardaval gestured toward the
back of the hallway where a doorway led into a center courtyard, open to the
cool night air, and motioned to a small table. A red-leafed tree in the center
spread its leaves overhead. Brad sat, and Ardaval sat beside him.
Brad needed to talk about Gavin Frey's
political views. Views that, as far as he could tell from the records, were the
opposite of his own. A breath brought him the scent of Ardaval's skin, musky,
with a hint of clove. Was it duty or cowardice keeping him from reaching for
Ardaval's hand and kissing the palm?
Ardaval clasped Brad's hand in his. "Tell
me more about why you were posted to Aleyne."
Should he remove his hand? No. He enjoyed
Ardaval's touch and what was the harm, really? When he glanced up, he found
Ardaval regarding him with evident amusement.
"I recommended that a man who used psi to
save his squad be given a dishonorable discharge." Brad hesitated.
"Although the soldier deserved a medal rather than a court martial, he was
a fool to admit he caught a thought.”
Ardaval nodded.
"About Gavin Frey. Is he your shan?"
The thoughts slipped out.
Ardaval stared into Brad's eyes for a a second
or two before he replied. "As you surmise, he is my son; my shan, because
I didn't raise him."
Might as well ask this, too. "His mother
never told you about him?"
Ardaval shook his head. "No, she didn't.
He spent six months here after she died. Then we disagreed over a matter of
ethical principal and he left."
Given what he understood about Frey, Brad would
have been surprised if they hadn't.
"He married, but his wife died. He has a
son who is now fourteen by Terran Standard years."
"His mother possessed a strong psi
talent."
"She contacted you?" Brad's eyebrows
rose to his hairline.
"She did. I suggest you keep an eye on the
boy."
"Do you believe he has gazal?" If the
boy developed Aleyni mind speech abilities, he'd need careful watching. Brad's
own family had been fairly accepting but how would Frey react if he discovered
his son possessed gazal? And what about the terrorists, who might try to
exploit Keth's talent?
Ardaval nodded. "I do, though of course
we've never met. Gavin doesn't, or at least if he does, he keeps his mind so
locked down it's the same thing."
Brad sighed and rose. He'd completed what he'd
said he'd come to do.
"It happens this way with us, at
times." Ardaval paused for a moment. "We'll meet again."
Brad turned to leave. He couldn't ignore this
connection, wish it away, any longer. Only Ardaval's assurance kept him moving
out the door.
Many thanks for regaling us today, Margaret. Great getting to know you!
You can read more about Margaret at her links:
Many thanks for regaling us today, Margaret. Great getting to know you!
You can read more about Margaret at her links:
BUY links:http://tinyurl.com/MuseRelocated/
https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=760&category_id=311&manufacturer_id=176&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1**
https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=760&category_id=311&manufacturer_id=176&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1**
Website: http://www.margaretfieland.com/ Blogs: http://www.margaretfieland.com/blog1/ http://www.margaetfielandcom/relocated/ http://poetic-muselings.net/
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