Today we are welcoming Jennifer Macaire to Books, Life and Everything to talk about her life as a writer. Jennifer writes The Time for Alexander Series, a time slip series which takes us back to Ancient Greece.
Welcome to Books, Life and Everything, Jennifer. Would you like to start by telling us a little about
yourself and how you started as a writer?
I was always a storyteller – I shared a room with my brother
and sister, and at night, they would beg for stories. My parents had always
read to us, but as soon as I learned to read, my father gave me a copy of
‘Black Beauty’, and told me it was up to me now. I read everything – from cereal boxes to
encyclopedias, all the books in our living room – and was thrilled when I got
my first library card. It's a running
joke at the library that my name is in nearly all the books in the building.
If you didn’t write,
what would you do for work?
Writing does not pay the bills for me. I believe -
and it's depressing – only about 1% of fiction writers make a decent
living. As soon as my children were out of the house and in school, I got a job
as a secretary and translator. I speak French and English, so I do freelance
work translating, and I work as a secretary part time, and as a
receptionist/dental assistant the other part time. I paint and draw as well,
and do work on commission for animal portraits. I write late at night or early
in the morning (depending how you look at it!) I've worked as a salesperson, a
model, a waitress, an English teacher, and even a nanny– my husband and I were
never in one place more than one or two months with his polo, so I got used to
just working where I could.
What are you interests apart from writing?
Painting and drawing, reading (of course), hiking, golf (my
husband got me playing that game), riding, gardening, and playing computer
games (my sons got me hooked on those!)
What is your favorite
childhood book?
‘Black Beauty’ – it was the first book I ever read by
myself.
Where were you when you heard your first book was going to
be published? How did you celebrate?
My husband was outside washing the car. I ran out of the
house and grabbed the hose from him and sprayed him from head to foot,
screaming that my book had been accepted!
He wrestled the hose back from me and doused me too. Then we stood under
the spray and laughed like loons. The neighbors were entranced.
Tell us three
surprising things about yourself.
My family has witches in it. My great-grandmother was known
as a witch. The women in our family have
premonitions. My mother can find things in dreams. My sister sees ghosts. I see
things that happen in the future. I knew I would marry my husband the minute I
saw him. I was standing next to my sister and pointed at him and said, ‘I'm
going to marry that man’. I knew I would have twins. I read the tarot cards,
but I've learned not to look too far ahead. The future has different paths,
they fan out, and if you look too far down one path, you might miss what could
have been.
I have dyslexia. It is pretty severe – I can't spell to save
my life. I need spell-check and a dictionary – I have a thesaurus and it's my
favorite book. I'm spatially challenged,
which makes my athlete husband laugh – I 'm clumsy, can't fold a towel, and I
can't tell time. I get confused between before and after, sooner and later, and
left and right. My sons didn't get it, but my daughter has dyslexia.
Thankfully, the schools here have special teachers to come in and help
students, so she did brilliantly.
I used to be a model. I was on the cover of magazines. I
posed for Richard Avadon, Albert Watson, Irving Penn, Patrick Demarchelier,
Oliviero Toscani... I worked for Vogue, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire...It was
the best of times and the worst of times – I wrote all about it on my blog
here: jennifermacaire.wordpress.com
Tell us about your
latest book without giving the plot away.
My latest book is Storms Over Babylon. It's the fourth book
in the Time for Alexander series, which starts with The Road to Alexander. It's
a time slip book set in ancient Greece. Ashley, the main character, was sent
back from the future to interview Alexander the Great, and he kidnaps her,
stranding her in his own time. Now she's stuck in 333 BC. It's not easy;
there's no decent shampoo and the nightlife consists of bats and owls. In
Storms Over Babylon, Ashley is trying
desperately to think of a way to save the man she's come to love – Alexander –
even though she knows that she can do nothing to change the course of time
without risking the fury of the all-powerful Time Senders.
Can you give any hints about any upcoming books you have
planned?
Book 5, Chants to Persephone, will come out on February 14,
2019!
Thank you so much for having me!
Here are my books on Amazon UK, and my Facebook page for my Time for
Alexander series.
You can follow me on Twitter, here.
Thanks for dropping by, Jennifer and good luck with the writing!
About the Author
Jennifer Macaire lives in France with her husband, three
children, & various dogs & horses. She loves cooking, eating French
chocolate, growing herbs and flowering plants on her balcony, and playing golf.
She grew up in upstate New York, Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. She graduated
from St. Peter and Paul high school in St. Thomas and moved to NYC where she
modeled for five years for Elite. She went to France and met her husband at the
polo club. All that is true. But she mostly likes to make up stories.
Books Spotlight
Sex, love, war, & quite a bit of vino - it's a Greek
myth come to life...
Ashley is a time-travel journalist who has fought to prove
herself in a world that that believes her road in life was paved by her parents'
fortune. After winning a prestigious award, she is selected to travel through
time and interview a historical figure. Choosing her childhood hero, Alexander
the Great, she voyages back in time for less than a day to interview a man
whose legend has survived to the present day. He mistakes her for Persephone,
goddess of the dead, and kidnaps her. Stranded in the past, cold and aloof
Ashley has to learn to befriend, to trust...and to love.
When Ashley Riveraine
jumped at the chance to travel back in time to meet her hero Alexander the
Great, she never thought she would end up staying there…
Following Alexander the Great’s army on its journey across
Persia, Ashley is walking the knife edge of history. As a presumed goddess,
Ashley is expected to bless crops, make sure battles are won and somehow keep
herself out of the history books.
Can Ashley avoid the wrath of the Time Institute while
keeping the man she loves alive?
Can you face the consequences of cheating the Fates?
Alexander the Great journeys to India, where he and Ashley
are welcomed with feasts and treachery.
With their son, Paul, being worshiped as the Son of the
Moon, and Alexander’s looming death, Ashley considers the unthinkable: how to
save them and whether she dares to cheat Fate?
From the scorching plains of Persia to the opulent city of
Babylon, Ashley and Alexander continue their sensuous and passionate
journey through history.
Alexander the Great is now king of Persia and Greece – but his reign will be short.
Time-travelling
Ashley knows when her husband will die. She’s determined to cheat Fate
and save Alexander and her children, even if it brings the gates of time
crashing down.
Following Alexander on a tour of his new kingdom,
she plans her moves and bides her time. She must, however, convince
Alexander to abandon his crown and his kingdom.
Thank you so much for having me on your blog!
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