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A Conversation with Marie Still, an up-and-coming Suspense Author
Marie Still is a Tampa based author specializing women's fiction and suspense.
Marie Still grew up obsessed with words and the dark and complex characters authors bring to life with them. Now she creates her own while living in Tampa with her husband, four kids, and two dogs. I needed every piece of data, every dirty detail. I also needed to fully prepare for the confrontation with Ethan. The one barreling toward him while he sat at work unaware.Marie Still
Let’s get started with a quick rapid fire.
Q1.If you could be transformed into one animal, which one would you choose?
A bird: flying would be pretty cool I think.
Q2. Finish the phrase “the way to my heart is…”
by making me laugh, and through my stomach…I really like food.
Q3. Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?
I’m a mood-vert. Sometimes intro sometimes extro.
Q4. Do you watch shows one episode at a time or binge whole seasons?
Go big or go home, I will binge every single season in one sitting.
Q5. Would you rather travel to the past or to the future?
I want to say the past, but I’m super nosey and want to know what it’s like, so I’m going future.
Q6. What is your last Google search?
I plead the fifth, I’m a thriller author, my Google history could get me in trouble.
Q7. What object do you misplace or lose the most?
My phone.
Q8. What is the kindest thing someone ever did for you?
Impossible to pick, I have an amazing family and friend group, they do and say kind things daily.
Q9. If given the chance to start your life over, would you take it?
Not a chance. I love my life and all the people in it. The lies were so easy; white lies covered by bigger lies. My whole life was a lie. We’re all liars, after all.Marie Still
Q10. What is the best present you have ever received?
My sister is the most thoughtful gift giver, every gift I’ve gotten from her is personalized. She recently got me a pen with my name on it to sign books with to celebrate my book launch. It was amazing.
Q11. Describe your style in one word.
Chaotic!
Q12. If you were to devote the rest of your life to philanthropy, what cause would you choose?
Improved and accessible mental health care and suicide prevention. It is a world-wide issue close to my heart. A portion of my book royalties is donated the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in several friends’ names.
It’s time for a more detailed conversation, Marie.
You’ve answered our rapid fire brilliantly, Marie. Now, it’s time for our readers to know more about the person behind the book.
Q. There’s a grand stage surrounded by fifty thousand people listening to authors introducing themselves. They are bored and restless of listening to introductions all day. It’s your turn. How would you introduce yourself?
Raise your hand if you’ve ever murdered someone. No one? Just me? Well, this is awkward… (sips coffee)… I mean in books of course.
Q. Well, that will keep you in our thoughts. So, what books did you grow up reading?
Anything and everything. I grew up in the 80s so there’s your typical coming of age books every 80s kid grew up on: The Babysitters Club, Judy Blume, V.C. Andrews, but my favorite was Stephen King. I spent my childhood telling anyone who would listen, “When I grow up, I’m going to be the female Stephen King.” Those are some big shoes to fill, but aim high, right?
Q. Interesting. Has writing and publishing a book changed the way you see yourself?
Not myself, but my perception and understanding of all that goes into a book. I had no idea how many editors were involved in the process. It’s a long and arduous process, however writing the initial draft of your story is a lonely experience, it’s just you and your characters. Once you hit the editing phase you have an entire team (for me it’s my team at my publisher Rising Action Publishing) who are as passionate about my story I am. Not only do they make the experience exciting, but every editor who touches my books pulls a better story from me. Watching your story evolve is a really amazing thing.
Q. Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know (yet)?
Two (maybe?) fun facts. I grew up a competitive gymnast. I can still walk on my hands for a very long distance, everything else not so much. I am passionate about travel. I’d rather die with more stamps in my passport than money in my bank account. My favorite place is Iceland, and the two countries I’ve visited the most are the UK and China.
Q. Now comes the most anticipated question that every author must answer. How do you process and deal with negative book reviews?
As a reader, I get it, not every book is for everyone. And that’s okay! There are so many amazing books out there, so I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read one of mine. If the book you read wasn’t your cuppa, I hope one of my others will be!
Q. What comes first for you — the plot or the characters — and why?
It changes each book. We’re All Lying started with a basic idea for the plot and jealousy. Jealousy is this toxic emotion that makes people act out of character, often impulsively. This theme of jealousy in relationships, over material possessions, really it can be found creeping in all corners of life, is a thread seen throughout the book. With Beverly Bonnefinche is Dead and My Darlings, I started with the character. My Darlings is about a serial killer mom, I had Eloise in my head and the story formed from there. Beverly was the same, I knew her before I knew her story. As the freezing water poured over me, I wished feelings were tangible things so I could pluck mine out and send them swirling down the drain with the icy water.Marie Still
Q. How do you develop your plot and characters?
I live in my head a lot when I’m working on a project. I’ll be sitting in a coffee shop sipping a latte, and think What would Beverly do here? They become so engrained in my everyday life, it’s often hard to separate myself from the story. I am constantly creating scenes in my head and watching them play out like movies until I type The End.
Q. What does literary success look like to you?
Success to me is to put out unique stories that keep people guessing until the last page—and deliver a few sleepless nights as they fly through those pages to get to the end.
Q. Let’s talk about your book. Tell us about it. No major spoilers.
I have two books coming out next year. We’re All Lying is my thriller debut available for preorder. The story begins with an affair. Cass, a successful advertising agency owner, receives an email from her husband’s mistress, that mistress begins stalking her, then she disappears. And that’s all within the first few chapters. It’s a twisty ride from there with buried family secrets, a haunting past, and lots of jealousy (not just from the affair!). It will be out in March. Beverly Bonnefinche is Dead takes place in the 80s in New England, Beverly is socially awkward, loves books more than people, and has a best friend Bill, a homeless alcoholic. This book is suspenseful women’s fiction, and explores mental health care in the 80s, and what it means to be vulnerable and let people in, both friends and romance, when you’ve lived a life of solitude. It will be available in September 2023. My third book My Darlings releases in 2024 and is about Eloise an affluent stay at home mom serial killer.
Q. What part of the book did you have the hardest time writing?
For We’re All Lying the end was the most difficult to write, mostly because I wrote several different endings before finally settling on the one.
Q. If you could meet your characters, what would you say to them?
Sorry for putting you through all that.
Q. What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?
I’m 100% pantser. When I start a story I have a basic concept in my head, but my story always deviates from that original idea, sometimes slightly, sometimes completely. My first drafts are really more like a 70K word drafting exercise. I use my second draft to go back and tie it all together, throw in those hints and red herrings and flesh out the scenes.
Q. Let’s talk about the process of writing. When you’re writing an emotional or difficult scene, how do you set the mood?
With four kids and two dogs, there is no setting the mood! I write when I can and when I feel like it. It typically takes me about two months to get a first draft on paper, within those two months there are days where I crank out 10K words and days where I just don’t write. If I sit down and it feels forced, my writing becomes forced, so I don’t push it.
Q. What has helped or hindered you most when writing a book?
Balancing the editing cycle with my new project has been a challenge. Each book goes through several rounds of edits with my publisher, developmental, copy, and proofreading. I have two books coming out next year, so there were a few months of intense editing deadlines. I found it hard to stay ‘in’ my current work in progress, so I put it to the side until I was able to give it the brain space it deserved. What has helped with my writing is early feedback. I have a trusted critique partner who gives me honest feedback as I write. She doesn’t sugar coat her feedback, if something isn’t working, she sends me back to the drawing board. Thanks Coy! I let my vision blur, then tell my story. At least the parts I’m willing to share.Marie Still
Q. It’s been fun. Now, before we wrap this up, do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Never stop learning and be very open to critique. Learning can come in so many different formats, find what works for you, reading in your genre, craft books, classes/workshops (there are so many wonderful classes online now!). All these things help you improve your understanding of the craft, the art and science of it, but they aren’t contextual to your writing. Getting feedback, whether paid or from critique partners, will help you identify blind spots and grow as a writer. One of the best things I did for my writing career was pay professional editors very early into writing my first book. This is a phase that generally comes when you’ve completed a book, however I wanted to learn how I personally could improve and implement that into my drafting process. That early feedback taught me so much about areas I needed to work on, gave me the ability to spot them as I wrote, and made my final draft a much cleaner, more polished piece. With my own writing as context, it made the concepts I’d read about in craft books and learned through workshops so much easier to implement.
Her debut novel WE’RE ALL LYING will be released March 14, 2023 from Rising Action Publishing. BEVERLY BONNEFINCHE IS DEAD and MY DARLINGS, to follow from Rising Action Publishing.
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