Tell me about your latest book
Witch Dust is my latest paranormal thriller.
It’s the story of Sandra, who’s had to develop a feet-firmly-on-the-floor philosophy. After all, when you grow up watching your father saw your mother in half most nights, it’s important to keep a grip on reality.
Sandra’s the daughter of well-known illusionists, Adam and Ophelia Adamovitch – God’s gifts to the entertainment industry – and life’s naturally never been run of the mill. But when Adam’s wandering eye lights on yet another conquest, it proves a chorus girl too far, and she’s caught in the reverberations of her parents acrimonious parting. Coerced into restoring her depressed Mother to the bosom of a family Sandra never knew existed, she’s sucked into a situation that even for her is somewhat unnerving.
. . . and why we should read it?
Well, writing it kept me amused and out of trouble for hours, I hope reading it might do the same for you.
If someone was to write your life story what would the title be?
She Should Have Looked Before She Leapt. Not, you understand, that I’m an inveterate risk taker, nor am I one for looking on the bright side of life. In fact, I’m the sort of person who checks bunches of bananas for spiders and who’d never dream of stepping into a lift without first checking it’s actually arrived, and I’m not headed into an empty shaft. However, I have always had a tendency, in my various careers to launch myself into new projects with wild abandon and probably far too little research, hence the title.
What’s the strangest fan question or request you’ve received?
Years ago, I used to regularly write short stories for magazines and readers fan letters used to get forwarded – you can tell how long ago it was! I once got asked by someone if I would send them a lock of my hair, they’d even thoughtfully enclosed a stamped self-addressed envelope. And no, I didn’t.
If you could co-write with anyone in the world (alive or dead) who would it be?
That’s a tricky one because I’m so bloody-minded, at times I can even have a heated argument with myself over phrasing and plot, so goodness knows what I’d do to the sanity and well-being of anyone I worked with.
Therefore, probably safest to stick with someone who’s already passed and I couldn’t drive into an early grave. I think I’d quite like to sit down with Shakespeare and see if we couldn’t come up with a jollier ending for Romeo and Juliet.
Tell me something nobody else knows about you (yet!).
I was once escorted by armed guards from the American Embassy in London. I’d arrived for a meeting and was asked if I was carrying any weapons? Well naturally, I said no, but when they did a routine search of my handbag they found a small plastic fork (still mayonnaisy from my M&S salad lunch and no, I’ve no idea why I’d kept it either). It was promptly confiscated, sealed in a bag and only returned to me after my meeting. Two armed guards walked me all the way down the steps – they obviously weren’t prepared to take any chances on me turning nasty and ‘mashing’ someone to death.
Finally, please recommend 3 books that you have recently read and tell me why you’ve chosen these.
I’ve just emerged, dazed, blinking and slightly disorientated from a Justin Cronin fest. I read The Passage and The Twelve when they first came out and then re-read them in preparation for The City of Mirrors. Wow, what a writer! Would thoroughly recommend the trilogy to anyone who doesn’t mind being completely immersed in another world with the security of knowing there’s hundreds of pages involved – bliss!
Who is Marilyn Messik?
Marilyn was a regular feature and fiction writer for national magazines when her children were small. She set up her first business selling toys, books and party goods from home, before opening first one shop then another.
When she sold the shops, she moved into the world of travel, focusing on accommodation in New England, USA. Her advisory, planning and booking service flourished and she concurrently launched a publishing company, producing an annual, full-colour accommodation guide. In 2007 she set up a copywriting consultancy, Create Communication to help businesses shape their messages to optimum effect. She’s the author of the Little Black Business Book series.
She’s been married to her very patient husband for more years than he deserves and they have two children, five grandchildren and, somewhat to their surprise, several grand-dogs. She likes nothing more than hearing from her readers, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch with her here
