Interview with Maria Murnane, author of It's a Waverly Life

I'm in the vortex right now, an expression I borrowed from Louisa May Alcott. It just means I'm sucked into my current writing project and am finding it all-consuming, but in a good way.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share an interview I did with author Maria Murnane. She has a book coming out tomorrow, as do I (Secrets of the Magic Ring!). Maria's book is called It's a Waverly Life and features Waverly Bryson, dubbed by fans as "the American Bridget Jones."
 
 Without further ado, let's start the interview!

K.M. - It’s a Waverly Life is a sequel to your popular book, Perfect on Paper: the (Mis)Adventures of Waverly Bryson. I understand that you also have a third book in the works. Did you plan to write three from the start?

M.M. - You are correct! I haven’t announced it yet, but I recently finished the first draft of the third Waverly book- yay! If all goes according to plan, it will come out next summer. (The working title is Honey on Your Mind, and it picks up a couple months after It’s a Waverly Life ends.) As for whether or not I planned to write three books from the start, the answer is no, definitely not. In fact, when I was writing Perfect on Paper I never imagined that I would one day write a sequel, much less two. It wasn’t until I realized how much readers connected with the Waverly character and truly wanted to know what happened to her after the last page that I decided to continue her story. In a way I was curious as well to find out where life would take her!

K.M. - How would you categorize your books? What’s your target audience?

That’s a great question, and I’m still not sure how to answer it. While I think the majority of my fans are probably women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, men and women of all ages (I mean from 15 to 75) have told me they read the book in one sitting and/or stayed up until the wee hours with Waverly. A male friend of mine who is married with three little kids—and is a partner in a big Boston law firm—told me he locked himself in his office one morning to finish it because he just couldn’t wait until after work to see how it ended. My older sister’s father-in-law said he was up until 2 a.m. for the same reason. In a way I think my books are a bit like Seinfeld in that they’re filled with stories about everyday life that people can relate to, because at some point they’ve been there too. I like to say they are novels for anyone who has ever run into an ex looking like crap. (If that has never happened to you, you’ve lived a charmed life, and I hate you. Ha.)

K.M. - Please share the joys and challenges of writing books with recurring characters.

M.M. - I enjoyed writing It’s a Waverly Life because I got to immerse myself in her world again, and it was fun reconnecting with the main characters. Crafting dialogue and story lines was easier, because of this, as I was already familiar with Waverly, McKenna, Andie, Jake, Scotty, etc. and how they would act. On the flip side, writing a sequel was a little stressful because the pressure was on to write something that people would love as much as Perfect on Paper.

K.M. - What plans do you have after the third book?

M.M. - I have no idea. Hmmm…I guess I need to start thinking about that! Actually, given how much I’ve learned in the process of becoming an author, I’ve begun giving workshops on publishing and book marketing (they are also available as on-demand webinars my website: www.mariamurnane.com). I’ve also launched a line of products based on the books at www.honeynote.com. I’ll probably focus on those things for the next few months, then jump back into writing in early 2012. I may do another Waverly Bryson book, or I may try something new, as you have done with your books. So stay tuned!

K.M. - You got your start in self-publishing. What advice would you have for other writers just starting out?

M.M. - If you want to get a traditional publishing contract, be prepared for the fact that it may not happen. It hurts, but rejection is the name of the game. However, if you love writing and believe in what you’re doing, keep going! No matter how your book is published, there’s nothing quite like holding a copy in your hands.

K.M. - Thanks so much, Maria!
 
Maria Murnane's official bio: Maria Murnane had a successful career in public relations for nearly 10 years before deciding she needed a change. She left for Argentina for what was supposed to be a two-week solo trip and ended up staying in Buenos Aires for a year. While there, she played semi-professional soccer for one of the most famous clubs in the world and wrote the romantic comedy “Perfect on Paper.” After being turned down by several publishing houses, she self-published and marketed the novel on her own, with great success. Eventually, “Perfect on Paper” was chosen by Amazon out of more than 10,000 self-published titles for its venture into traditional publishing and was re-released by AmazonEncore in 2010. A sequel, “It’s a Waverly Life,” is scheduled for a November 2011 release. Murnane has also launched a line of products called Waverly’s Honey Shop that is based on “Perfect on Paper’s” main character, Waverly Bryson. Murnane was a Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholar in English and Spanish at UC Berkeley and has a master’s degree in communications from Northwestern University. She currently lives in New York and offers author consulting services on publishing and marketing in addition to working on her third novel. www.mariamurnane.com