Cheryl interviewed Marie Force, a New York Times bestselling author, recently.
Force has published well over 50 books—an inspiration to what writers can
accomplish.
Here is a reprint of her published
article:
A Rhode Island Author is a Force to be Reading With
By Cheryl L. Butler
If romance reads are your thing,
you’ve probably curled up in your favorite chair and devoured one of Marie
Force’s dozens of desirable novels. If you haven’t, you’re about to be
introduced to one of Rhode Island’s premier authors who has been keeping readers
turning pages fast and furiously since 2008.
Force, a New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance, has
published well over 50 books including the indie-published Gansett Island
Series and the Fatal Series from Harlequin Books. In addition, she is the
author of the Butler, Vermont Series, the Green Mountain Series, and the erotic
romance Quantum Series. In 2019, her new historical Gilded series from
Kensington Books will debut with Duchess
By Deception.
Candid and witty, Force shares how
it all started on her well-designed website, www.marieforce.com. Here fans
learn that she graduated from Middletown High School in 1984 and then attended
the University of Rhode Island where she double majored in journalism and
political science. Right after graduation she dove into life as a writer by working
for a small community newspaper. The hours and pay weren’t great, but the
experience she gained as well as the comradery she shared with her colleagues
made it a good place to start her career.
A few years later she did
something she joked she’d never do after growing up in a Navy town, she married
a guy in the Navy. They left Rhode Island and started their new life in Rota,
Spain where he was stationed and their adventure began. Here she earned a
Master’s degree in Public Administration and started her family. They returned
to the states and resided in Maryland where Dan was now stationed and she began
working for The Washington Post. Her
writing career continued to blossom throughout the different places her husband
was stationed as did their family when they welcomed their second child.
Their last home during Navy life
was in Jacksonville, Florida where they resided until Dan retired in 2001. Soon
after, they returned to their roots here in Rhode Island. Though she had been
working in a writing/magazine world for many years, she yearned to write a book
but notes it was simply a pipe dream to find the time with two young kids and a
full-time publishing job.
She credits her dad for nudging
her to make the time, even if it was between the hours of 3am and 6 am! She
took his encouragement to heart and began to get a bit more serious about
bringing a character she had envisioned for years to life—Jack, an architect
with thick dark hair, gray-blue eyes, an engaging grin, and a quick wit.
Another couple of years passed after she first began drafting Jack’s story.
In November 2003, her mother was
diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. “The next nine months were a roller coaster
ride, during which I turned to the book more and more often seeking an escape
from the nightmare of my mother’s illness.” In August she had four chapters
ready for review and her mother was the first to read them. “I made her cry,”
she says. Sadly, her mother died on August 31, 2004.
That was Force’s wake-up call. She
knew the time had come where she needed to feed her passion and her muse and
write about the characters that continuously danced in her mind.
She’s since written five series
that have stolen her readers’ hearts and she credits each of them for continued
inspiration. “My readers really inspire me to keep producing the books,
characters and worlds they’ve come to love which is great for me because I love
to write them. I’ve been writing the Gansett Island and Fatal Series for 11
years, and I can’t imagine my life without those characters anymore. That the
readers love them as much as I do is truly amazing and humbling. I never
imagined having such a faithful following asking me every day when the next
book would be released. They really keep me focused and motivated to give them
more,” she says with deep gratitude.
The most satisfying part of this
author’s job is hearing from readers who’ve devoured a new book in a series
they love. “They also ask me, usually on release day, when the next book will
be out. I refer to that as job security,” she laughs adding that having happy
readers is definitely the best part of the job.
Force juggles more than one book
in progress. “My writing routine is fairly straightforward—I try to get at
least 2,000 words a day on the page every morning, seven days a week, which
keeps me on schedule. Often, I write much more than that, many times in two
different books,” she shares.
Out of all her series she says
hands down her favorite is definitely Gansett Island because it is such a
reflection of who she is and what her life has been like with a large, comical
family. “While I only have one sibling, my brother and I have 19 first cousins
who made life interesting growing up. I’m still close to many of them today.
They continue to entertain me and provide fodder for my big family series. In
addition to the family theme on Gansett, the real-life Gansett Island—Block
Island, RI—has played a huge role in my life. I spend part of every summer on
the island, and draw from those experiences to write Gansett.
“My favorite character of all
time, however, is Sam Holland, my irreverent, rule-breaking homicide detective
from the Fatal Series. She is so much fun to write, and I’m still having a
blast with her as I write book 14,” she states.
The one thing Force would like her
readers to know is that she appreciates every one of them. “They’ve given me a
dream-come-true career with their devotion to me and my books, and I never take
them for granted. I try my best to continue to give them books that take them
away from their everyday concerns for a few hours,” Force says.
Force, herself an avid reader,
enjoys books from all over the romance genre with author Lisa Kleypas topping
her favorites.
Force isn’t slowing down anytime
soon and plans on doing exactly what she’s doing now, writing series along with
an occasional single title that’s not part of a series. “I'd like to be able to
pursue new ideas while tending to my existing series. In my author bio I state
that my life goals are simple—to keep writing books for as long as I possibly
can, to finish raising two happy, healthy, productive young adults, and to
never be on a flight that makes the news. That pretty much sums up my wish
list,” she says happily.
Just released is Mine After Dark,
which is book 19 in the Gansett Island Series. The first three Gansett Island
books—Maid for Love, Fool for Love and Ready for Love—are out this summer in
mass-market paperback for the first time, and are available in Target, Walmart,
B&N, Books-a-Million and many other book retailers.
She also has several upcoming
books currently available for preorder:
August 14: Outrageous, Book 7 in my Quantum Series
October 9: Five Years Gone, a new single title
November 27: Fatal Invasion, Book 13 in my Fatal
Series
January 29: Duchess by Deception, Book 1 in my new
Gilded Series (and her first-ever historical romance)
March 26: Fatal Reckoning, Book 14 in my Fatal
Series
Her website is continuously
updated where you can also sign up for her newsletter. In addition, for more
enjoyment and a few good chuckles, you can find the author and her husband
(Marie’s biggest fan and supporter) on You Tube Live where the two banter about
all kinds of fun topics on “Live with Marie and Dan.”
