Posted on August 31, 2011 - by Dawn Ford
Down Home With Mary Connealy
With her newest release from Bethany House fresh off the press, Mary Connealy is anything but Out of Control. She is honestly one of the most down home, together, funny women I know. And only a few others can actually admit to knowing her as personally as I, having spent some time behind bars at the Squirrel Cage Jail with her.
It is, therefore, my distinct honor to welcome a dear friend and an inspiration to me, Mary Connealy.
Me: Mary, what author attracted you as a young reader that may have influenced you as a writer?
Mary: When I think back on all the books I loved, the ones I remember most vividly are The Black Stallion books by Walter Farley. Those are the ones I remember thinking I was reading sheer talent. The way he drew me into those horse races, his skill at making me part of the action. He is a huge influence, just because I know it can be done, even if I’m not sure how.
Me: The majority of your writing has been within the western romance genre. What is it that started you out writing the strong cowgirl characters that you are known for?
Mary: I wrote for ten years before I got my first book published. At the end of those ten years, when that first contract came, I had twenty finished books on my computer. That’s twenty finished full length adult novels. I also had quite a few children’s and YA novels written. The adult novels were mostly all romance but they ran the gamut within that genre. Contemporary, historical, sweet, suspense. The westerns are what sold. It’s really that simple. And I love writing them and living on a ranch allows me to bring a lot of authenticity to the books. So it was just finally me learning enough and (finding) the right publisher at the right time and I became an author of Romantic Comedy with Cowboys.
Me: Being an author usually means there is research of certain aspects of your story. What has been your favorite research subject or place and why?
Mary: The book that is releasing right now, Out of Control, is set in a fictionalized Carlsbad Cavern. This is a story I’ve wanted to tell for years. I’ve had this (and a zillion other) stories in my head. I wanted to set a book in a terrifying and staggeringly beautiful cavern and try to capture the thrill of fear, the danger and the lure of the wonders I saw in a long ago trip to Carlsbad Cavern.
Me: Having just read Out of Control, I can say you did a great job of bringing out the beauty and wonder of the caverns and calderas enough to make me want to go out and explore myself.
Me: Which story, from your own books, was your favorite to write?
Mary: Hard question. And a little mean hearted too. I have a tremendous love for Petticoat Ranch and it’s been the foundation of six books now, the characters in that first novel. I am truly and deeply in love with Belle Tanner from The Husband Tree. I just found out it’s a finalist for a Carol Award. That woman, feisty Belle Tanner is a character type I love, the independent, tough lady rancher. Every book she’s been in, when she walks into a scene, I’m just having a wild amount of fun. I just finished book three in The Kincaid Brides. Out of Control is book one in that series. I’m have had so much fun writing that book, tying all the stories up. Book two is In Too Deep. Book three is Over the Edge. I loved writing those books.
Me: I do love Julia from your current novel, but I have to say Belle Tanner is my favorite of yours from your book the Husband Tree. You had to have carved her right out of steel.
Me: What characteristics of your own to you transfer into your characters?
Mary: I don’t really think I’m writing books about myself. I think, instead, I’m writing about how I’d like to be. I’m a pretty quiet person. Pathologically non-confrontational. An island of calm in the tempestuous seas of life (or I avoid trouble by hiding under my desk, whatever). So I write tough, sassy women to let off some steam maybe.
Me: I can attest to that fact. Since I am resident troublemaker of our area’s writers group, it is my job to add some spice to our trips. I have to admit I had more fun wearing the Abraham Lincoln hat to lunch than everyone else who had to sit with me. Just think of it as inspiration for your ornery characters. You do make strong female characters seem easy to create, Mary. I know first hand they aren’t.
Me: Being a Christian who writes inspirational novels, what is it you want people to take home from reading Out of Control?
Mary: My main goal when I write a book is to be entertaining, to tell a story in the most fun way I can manage. I think there is a particularly strong Christian message in Out of Control but that’s not always my goal. I want the faith to be there, to be the foundation, but for me it’s story first, last, always. What Christian fiction does for me is allows me to write my stories without the almost required sex and profanity and immorality that is pervasive in most secular fiction. Being forbidden to do something I would never do, is fantastic. Within those restrictions of Christian fiction, I find complete freedom.
Personal information about Mary: Mary lives on a ranch in Nebraska with her husband Ivan. She has been a stay at home mother for 27 years and raised four girls who have grown into wonderful women. She is blessed to have 2 spectacular grandchildren who are more fun than a human being should be allowed to have.
A GED instructor by day, and writer by night, Out of Control is Mary’s twentieth book. Even though she states she is surprised to continue selling books, this interviewer can be counted among her many fans and is not surprised she has been a Christy award finalist, a Rita award finalist, and a Carol award winner.
Be sure to buy Mary’s newest book, Out of Control. You can find a list of Mary’s books here, or visit her blogs here, here, and here.
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August 31, 2011
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Kav said:
Great interview, Dawn and Mary. I’ve read Out of Control and LOVED it. Am excited to read the rest of the series too. When will the next one be released?
Running like crazy to get out the door to work…Wooohooo, really looking forward to that one and a half hour commute! I miss my month off already!
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August 31, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
Good morning Kav! Hurry, don’t miss your ride. I loved Out of Control also, but I’m a bit of a nut about caves and caverns. So I actually have something in common with one of Mary’s characters!!
Welcome everyone! I have a good old fashion breakfast on. Eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes and maple syrup. Lots of good strong coffee also, although I take mine doctored up a bit. And don’t forget the toast and strawberry jam. It should give us all a good start to our day.
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August 31, 2011
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Lorna Seilstad said:
Morning Mary! Did you notice Dawn left out her Squirrel Cage Jail pictures? She wants everyone here to think she’s all peaches and cream, but WE know the truth, don’t we? Maybe she should star in your next book. Quiet, unassuming heroine on the outside. Determined rule-breaker on the inside.
I loved OUT OF CONTROL, too. Like I told you, my daughter made me read it fast so I could send it to her at Bible camp. One of her counselors caught her sitting on the floor reading it instead of watching the movie. She swears she didn’t read it during classes or devos.
Do you think your YA novels will ever find a publishing home? I’m sure they’re wonderful.
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August 31, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
Yes, Mary. When are the YA novels going to see the light of the day??
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August 31, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
Good morning ladies. I hope Kav made it to her carpool.
Dawn, seriously, when we were at the Squirrel Cage jail, I keep expecting the tour guide to just swing the door shut on you. And we’d protest of course, but in our hearts we’d know you kinda had it coming.
Then you got us into the display cases in De Soto Bend and I was forever humbled (well, maybe not FOREVER) because your courageous got us in to see the really GOOD STUFF. And of course, I’d have never asked.
And now de soto bend is under water.
We need to get together. I’m lonely for you all. I missed the last get together.
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August 31, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
That last comment is so salted with bad grammar it’s yet more humbling. I honestly need an editor just to get through the day.
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August 31, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
I really loved my YA novels. I’d be glad to sell them to someone. And yet, there is NO ONE who seems a speck interested.
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August 31, 2011
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Brenda Anderson said:
What an inspiration you are, Mary. I LOVE that you kept pressing on, even after 10 years & 20 books. I’m working toward 7 years, but have only completed 5 books. Guess I better get writing.
I’m curious, out of those 20 you had completed, how many have now been published?
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August 31, 2011
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Regina Merrick said:
Great interview! And yes, I can attest to Dawn as an instigator. She seems so quiet and unassuming on first meeting, but then, later . . .
Mary, I loved what you said about finding complete freedom in the restrictions set by the CBA. I SO agree with you! I have a feeling that if we wrote romance for the ABA we’d be pressured and struggling to fit some sex appeal in there SOMEWHERE. And you know, There’s plenty of emotion and romance in your books without all THAT, and I thank you for it as a reader, and as a writer.
I placed a sticky note on “Out of Control” in the processing pile at my library. It says, in bold, Sharpie letters, “SAVE FOR REGINA!”
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August 31, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
Mary,
I was very careful at the jail. The only time I got behind the bars was when you took the picture of us and I was sure you wouldn’t leave us ALL behind.
I was glad to know DeSoto got all the artifacts out safely. But they won’t tell where they’ve put them. I’m not sure how much longer it will be under water. It has receded some, Yay!!
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August 31, 2011
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kav said:
Ohhhhhh Mary, I’m interested in your YA books. I can’t believe they are not being snatched up! What are publishers thinking? I mean you could hook a girl with your YA books and she’d seamlessly transition into your adult books and voila : a life long Mary Connealy reader!
And alas, no carpool — just me and a multitude of city buses. And a book. Thank goodness I can read on the bus!
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August 31, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
Me? Instigator? Well, maybe a little. I only got everyone locked out of the main hotel once. And we were rescued very quickly. After lots of shouting. And some panic. It wouldn’t have been so bad if we hadn’t been all dressed up and had high heels on and had just walked down a zillion stairs and the hallway wasn’t so back alley-ish…
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August 31, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
Kav,
Bus? I thought it was a golden carriage with plush red velvet interior pulled by four regal white horses. No? Well, it turns back to a pumpkin at midnight anyway. Who needs that?
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August 31, 2011
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Regina Merrick said:
Dawn, I don’t know how I avoided being trapped in that stairwell – but at least you were rescued by the wife of a law enforcement official!
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August 31, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
Talk about right person at the right time. She just laughed at us. I will use it in a story someday. So it wasn’t for naught! But I promise not to lead anyone anywhere this year at conference. Even if the elevators are full and the line is down the hallway and back.
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August 31, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
Brenda, of the twenty finished books, wow, I’m counting…using my fingers actually. I can count eight that sold but I thought it was ten, but I can’t think of the other two.
So, I’ve got twelve finished full length novels on my computer. And I had two seven book series planned but only about five of them written. One inspired by Harry Potter, but about angel kids. And another about kid geniuses. Honestly, I’m probably not smart enough to write a book about kid geniuses, but it was a fun series. I love those books.
HOWEVER, there can be no doubt I’ve gotten better as a writer so those books aren’t just languishing there hoping for a publisher. They’d take work to be publishable and I haven’t found the time to turn my attention to them and polish them up to even begin to consider submitting them somewhere.
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August 31, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
I was standing at a hotel stairway recently and there’s the huge sign that said something like…. “All doors inside this stairwell will open onto all floors.”
Do you suppose that is a policy inspired by Dawn????
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August 31, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
And Dawn, honey, always know that we are there for you. If you should happen to get arrested, I have already checked and the jail bond can be paid with Visa. We we will come for you!!!!!!!
Well, I will, Lorna says after lunch maybe, but I will insist we follow in the wake of the arresting officer who is hauling you away.
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August 31, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
Regina, when I was first trying to get published was around the time that all the Harlequin lines were starting to allow unmarried characters to have sex. I can still remember being shocked the first time I read one that had that in it. And the few lines they had back then kept each of them getting more and more racy until the only one left doing really sweet romances was Silhouette. I remember thinking all my writing was for one tiny, teensy weensy line in the whole wide publishing world. Most bigger publishers required agents and I didn’t even begin to know how to get one of those.
This was before I even had the internet at home and before Google and search engines. I was using my Writer’s Market Guide to find a publisher.
So when Christian fiction appeared on the scene it was like I’d been writing for years for a genre that hadn’t been invented yet. My books didn’t have a faith thread, but they had characters conducting themselves as Christians, their faith there, but unspoken. All I had to do was go through and say it all out loud.
And that started for me with Love Inspired because I didn’t know anything about the publishing world, I was just quietly writing my sweet little romances anonymously, alone, so very, very alone.
I found RWA, through RWA I found LI, and also thrugh RWA I found ACFW and that was the door that I finally used to get into the publishing world.
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August 31, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
I’ll add that Christian publishing HAD been invented of course, I just hadn’t found it.
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August 31, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
So, Mary, you were christian country when it wasn’t cool? That’s a song, right?
I’m glad someone will bail me out. Hubby swears he won’t. Ya’ll enjoy yourself over lunch first though. I’d hate for you to go hungry. All I ask is that you bring me some desert. That’s it. I’m sure I’d make friends with that big girl. You know, the one with all the tattoos and piercings?
Where, I ask you, where was that sign when I needed it? I should’ve known it wasn’t the “guest” stairwell when we saw the cobwebs and the dangling light swinging over the metal steps. Shouldn’t something like that be locked so naive, innocent writers such as myself couldn’t open it?
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August 31, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
Mary,
Of course Christian writing had been invented, dear. The Bibles was around a few years before you.
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August 31, 2011
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Brandi Boddie said:
Hi, Mary. I’ve been reading your books for a while, but it’s nice to learn a little more about you, especially your love of The Black Stallion novels. Your journey into the publishing world is encouraging and inspiring.
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August 31, 2011
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Shari Barr said:
Mary,
It’s always good to learn more about you. I love hearing other writers’ journeys into the publishing world. It’s so inspiring and encouraging. Thanks for sharing with us today.
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August 31, 2011
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JerriLynn said:
I’m loving all of the different interviews and interviewing styles. Learning so much from each one. Thanks to everyone (interviewers and interviewees) for taking the time out to do this!
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August 31, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
I have to mention how fun it is just to talk to Mary. Even if I didn’t like her books, which is far from the truth, I would absolutely adore being around her.
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August 31, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
Hi Brandi. I think I serve most as a horrible warning to others. Sort of like a lighthouse warning people to do it some other way than how I did, the slowest most painful way possible.
I might qualify as a ‘slow learner’.
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August 31, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
Hi, Shari. I haven’t seen you forever. I missed the last meeting and I can tell the universe is tilted in a dangerous way. We can try to level off at ACFW, but it won’t be enough.
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August 31, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
Does anyone remember computers that had NO MEMORY. You’d shut it off and everything was gone. I had to save everyday on a disk. And if the lights blinked, if you hadn’t saved in a while you’d lose everything back to your last save, no auto-save features back then.
I joined ACFW but I didn’t have the internet at home. So I’d get to the library occasionally and find TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY EMAILS!!!!
It was a stressful time, but I got a lot of writing done.
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August 31, 2011
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Lorna said:
Yes, I remember those computer days. Our first computer was a Compaq. It was like a portable sewing machine and had a little 5 X 6 screen. The letters on the screen were bright green against a black background–no other color. Things have sure changed, haven’t they?
Mary, thanks so much for taking the time to join us today. Stop by any time!
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August 31, 2011
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Marianne said:
You girls are a hoot and i just LOVE your posts! i am more of a ‘don’t make waves’ girl and bottle everything up until it just explodes! maybe i should take up writing to let off steam, even if they never saw the light of day. Thanks again.
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September 1, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
Marianne that is me exactly. The peacemaker, the serene center of a whirling, roiling universe in my emotional family.
I pour oil on troubled waters and let everyone vent while I try and calm them down.
And then I go write a murderous rampage or have someone get shot and go hurling off a cliff.
It keeps me sane. (no comments necessary, DAWN!!! I am too sane. I’ve been tested repeatedly.)
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September 1, 2011
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Kimberli said:
Wonderful interview. Blessings – Kimberli
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September 1, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
Marianne, Writing is great therapy! I highly recommend it.
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September 1, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
Mary,
Thank you so much for the interview. Since you are the only one willing to bail me out of trouble, I will refrain from any sane or insane comments. For now.
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September 1, 2011
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Sherri Shackelford said:
Hello, everyone! Another great interview. I loved the Black Stallion growing up. I still kind of want a pony sometimes ;0
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September 1, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
Sherri, Thanks for dropping by!! I had a pony once and she was fun until she bucked me off and the wind got knocked out of me when I hit the ground. Still love horses. Just not Shetland ponies so much.
Hey, everyone, Mary’s book Out of Control just hit #17 on the Christian Bestseller book list!! Can I get a whoop-whoop!!!!
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September 2, 2011
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Shannon Taylor Vannatter said:
I’m late as usual. Awesome about the best-seller list. Woo HOO Mary!!!! I’m currently reading Buffalo Gal from Black Hills Blessing and laughing out loud often. This is my first Mary book.
I had 9 1/2 years in and 8 completed manuscripts. I recently went back and polished one for publication. What a job. I think it would have been easier just to start over and rewrite it from scratch.
And like Mary, when I started writing I didn’t know there was an inspirational market. My library didn’t have them, so I didn’t know they existed.
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September 2, 2011
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Brenda Anderson said:
Congratulations, Mary, for making the ECPA Bestseller list with Out of Control!
http://christianbookexpo.com/bestseller/fiction-current.php
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September 2, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
A PONY, Sherri? A PONY? Not a raging, fast-as-the-wind huge, dangerous black stallion?
Cuz that’s what I want.
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September 2, 2011
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Mary Connealy said:
Thanks for the congratulations. I am stunned, thrilled, amazed about that list.
I think I might get it tattooed on my neck. You don’t think that’s an over reaction on my part do you???
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September 2, 2011
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Cathy Richmond said:
Tattoo? Uh, not a good idea. Jewelry, maybe. Or maid service.
Do you think you’d like to live in a cavern? I used to think it’d be too chilly, but for this hot-flash phase of life, it might be just right! Looking forward to “Out of Control”!
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September 7, 2011
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Tracy Smith said:
Great interview with Mary. And I can so relate with her being a non-confrontational person myself and wishing I could be like her sassy heroines.
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September 7, 2011
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Dawn Ford said:
Tracy, welcome!! I can completely relate to wanting to be more sassy like Mary’s heroines. Wouldn’t the world be much more interesting if we were?
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September 9, 2011
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Jackie Smith said:
Have read some of Mary’s books and follow lots of her interviews, but somehow missed this one! So glad I found it today; love her books and her inspiration.
jackie.smith[at]dishmail[dot]net