Kari O. of Dallas, Texas, has these questions about my newest novel FLASH.

Kari O.    FLASH centers around several characters, each with their own strong histories. Which one did you find the most interesting to develop and bring to life?

MC    I found all the characters in Flash rewarding, in different ways, and they kept me guessing.  What surprised me was how much the characters kept secret from me what they would ultimately do.  I didn’t know what Carraway had in mind, for example.  Was he going to commit a crime in his home town, or was he going to prove fair-minded and honest?  I didn’t know.  Was Nina going to get drawn into wrong-doing--and what harm had Carraway committed in Iraq? The novel kept hiding things from me, keeping me in suspense even as I wrote it.

Kari O.    I don't often hear authors speak of their characters in that manner. Were there any other surprises your characters threw at you while you were writing?

MC    Writing is an adventure for me--I rarely know what is going to happen until it happens.  That keeps the writing vivid--what the readers sees is what I see, as I see it.  Even when I write a novel based on a true event, such as The King’s Arrow, I am not sure what each horse or each rider will do until they have saved their lives--or died.  Writing is exciting, and emotionally harrowing.

I did not know whether Milton would kill Bruce or not during the fire on the hill.  I think he seriously considers it at one point.  I don’t want to give away any of the story for readers who have not finished the book, but this novel was full of emotional twists and challenges as I created it.  For me, all the guns in the novel were loaded.

Kari O.   Given what led Bruce and Milton to even try for the bank heist, how do you think you would have reacted if you were in a situation similar to theirs? Try for the heist or find some other option?

MC    What led Milton and Bruce to rob a bank was more than the need for money and their bleak career prospects.  They were stuck with each other.  Milton’s view of Bruce is that Bruce is potentially difficult, hard to handle, and it is a challenge to think of a scheme that uses Bruce’s penchant for violence and his vigorous sense of right and wrong.  Bruce, for his part, finds Milton exasperating and not always respectful of his younger brother’s talents.  Their criminal behavior is rooted, I think, in their sibling chemistry as much as any real need for cash.

Kari O.:   Now that we've shifted a little towards you, what is the most private thing you're willing to share here? And on a random but fun note, what kind of cookie would you describe yourself as?

MC     The most private thing would be:  I really dislike spiders.  I have a particular aversion to tarantulas, and we have a very persistent and creepy species of tarantula that fingers his way down from the hill in the late summer, early autumn, which is right about now, since you ask.  Did I mention that I don’t like them?

What kind of cookie would I be?  Something chewy.  

Karin O.     Is there anything else you're scared of? What's the most fearless thing you've done, besides live somewhere with a disturbing brand of spider?

MC   I tread-water in the silence every day--that‘s basically what a writer does.  It does not take courage, exactly, but it does take nerve.  I have to say, though, that none of my daring would equal Nina‘s renewed faith in her brother, or Terrence‘s love for Nina. 

Use the Contact Form to send me a question of your own.  And take a look at my Guest Artist page--and send me a drawing or a photo, or a poem--why not?  I look forward to hearing from you!