Mary Montague Sikes: Twelve Question Tuesday

Barnes and Noble Book Signing 

Today I am excited to welcome Mary Montague Sikes to Twelve Question Tuesday. 

1.  Please tell me the three most important things people should know about you.
1. I love to take and to teach artist workshops. Whenever possible, I like to include elements involving artists in my writing.  

2. Physical fitness is especially important to me. I've belonged to a Fitness Center for years and take group classes three or four times a week. I especially like Zumba and just started taking Shockwave which is the newest fad in fitness.  

3. Travel is my passion. Just give me a ticket and a great and fun destination, and I'm off in a heartbeat!

2.  Are you a dog person or a cat person?
Cat

3.  Tea or coffee? 
Neither. I drink Max, often four a day!

4.  Boxers, briefs, boxer-briefs, or commando? (Either what you prefer or what you prefer on others.)
Briefs. What's commando? 
(Note from me- commando is in the buff. Nude. Nada.)

5.  What was the first thing you ever wrote?
The first piece I remember is a poem about George Washington I wrote when I was in third grade. At the time, we lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia, the childhood home of Washington.

6.  When did you finally decide to call yourself a writer? 
When I was in high school, I was school reporter for the local newspaper and editor of the high school paper. I considered myself a writer then!

7.  Which of your works are you most proud to have written? 
My coffee table book, Hotels to Remember, was quite a project and was years in the making. I loved visiting and photographing these special places. Putting it all together with my publisher, Billie Johnson, was fun and tedious. Then she did a great job with the eventual layout and all the rest. It's a beautiful book, complete with an elegant French-fold dustcover and gold print on black linen cover.

8.  What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you? 
In Guadeloupe, our resort unit was entered in the middle of the night, and all our money and both passports were taken. We couldn't even make a telephone call. Being in a foreign country without a passport and no money is not a good thing!

9.  How did you end up getting published?
While attending a Romance Writers of America convention in Anaheim, California, I mentioned my interest in writing the hotels book to an agent who was then connected with Billie. Thus began the book, Hotels to Remember, and the publication of my romance novel, Hearts Across Forever prior to that. Hearts Across Forever was Oak Tree's first Timeless Love.

10.  Would you be food or fighter if the zombie apocalypse were to happen?
I don't know.

11.  What is the most daring thing you have ever done?
Interesting question. I don't consider myself a daring person, so I have to think about this. The night we were robbed in Guadeloupe in the middle of the night while sleeping in our resort unit, my husband and I went wandering all over the island by foot in the dark searching for our belongings. That was pretty daring, we realized later. Also, we did some pretty daring things while in Trinidad, including riding in a small boat through ocean waters to get to our resort on a small island off the coast. That's part of the fictionalized story in my novel, Night Watch.

12.  Would you rather be rich or famous--and you could only have one-- and why?  The fame would be based on something good, not something like being the best serial killer or anything like that.
Famous. Riches are fleeting and easily lost. Fame has more potential for good and for future recognition.

BY THE AUTHOR:
 
Although this is not my latest book, I have been promoting A RAINBOW FOR CHRISTMAS recently because it was released at a time when it didn't receive appropriate attention.

A RAINBOW FOR CHRISTMAS is an historical romance set in 1869. After the unexpected deaths of her brother and sister-in-law, Meg undertakes a journey alone with Eliza, her six-year-old niece. They are traveling on a wagon train from Missouri to Denver, Colorado where Meg will meet the man her father has arranged for her to marry in a deal to save the family farm. Along the way, both Meg and Eliza grow very fond of Cade Russell, the wagon master.  Meg is eventually torn between honoring her promise to her father or following her heart.

I was inspired to write this story after visiting mountain towns in Colorado with a wealth of mining history. While there, I purchased an array of books telling the stories of early settlers in the area. I was especially intrigued by a volume of diary entries made by women who crossed the prairie on wagon trains. My book won first place for young adult fiction in the Virginia Press Women 2012 Communications Contest.

My next book project is DRAGONFLIES IN THE MORNING, which will be released in early 2014.

Thank you, Holli, for having me as your guest. I've enjoyed your interview questions.



Find out more about Mary Montague Sikes at:  

www.marymontaguesikes.com 

http://marymontaguesikes.blogspot.com