Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have two traditional romances and two novellas out. Have worked for libraries doing p.r. and marketing, been involved with political campaigns, children’ s literary, and arts and grassroots organizations.
Bonnie McCune lives in Denver and is the author of novels, novellas and short stories. A writer since the fifth grade, her interest in the craft led to her career in nonprofits doing public and community relations and marketing. Simultaneously, she’s published news and features as a free-lancer.
Her civic involvement includes grass-roots organizations, political campaigns, writers’ and arts’ groups, and children’s literacy. For years, she entered recipe contests and was a finalist once to the Pillsbury Cook Off. A special love is live theater. Had she been nine inches taller and thirty pounds lighter, she might have been an actress. For reasons unknown (an unacknowledged optimism?), she believes that one person can make a difference in this world. Her entire family is book-mad.
Bonnie’s writing explores the highs and lows of everyday people and their unique lives with humor, close attention, and appreciation. Her blog addresses “ordinary people, extraordinary lives” and also features samples of shorter works. If you enjoyed this book, you’re invited to submit a reader review online and encouraged to let your friends know about her work. Visit http://bonniemccune.com/ to connect with her.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Falling Like a Rock: inspired by a perfect storm of personal experience and news in the state. A number of years ago, a small town in Colorado launched an all-community weight loss project which became part of the book. We also have many wildfires in the state, so I used this type of crisis to test the heroine and the love story. I also included a broken ankle, pulled from my personal experience, a small town Fourth of July parade, and Colorado’s wonderful mountains.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I must have a very hard head because I’ve been beating it against the door of publishing for 60 years. I try to write every day, always with coffee at my elbow. Since giving up smoking years ago, I’ve substituted sunflower seeds in the shell, and my floor is littered with the droppings. I DO clean up several times a day.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Like all book lovers, I read widely and diversely. I don’t know if the following have influenced my writing, but they’ve influenced my life. Sandra Cisneros, Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood, Zaidie Smith, Pride & Prejudice, the Things they Carried, Carmela, The Handmaid’s Tale, Let the Great World Spin, The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian, Tale of Two Cities, Violet Clay , The New Jim Crow, the Life of Pi, The Catcher in the Rye, White Teeth, In Defense of Anarchism, Love and Garbage (Ivan Klima), Out Stealing Horses (Per Petterson, A Tale of Two Cities,The Joy Luck Club, The Golden Notebook, The Doomsday Book, The Number One Ladies Detective Agency (series), anything by Carl Hiaasen, I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith), Main Street, The Tin Drum, several by Roddy Doyle, including The Woman Who Walked into Doors.
What are you working on now?
“Never Retreat,” a woman’s novel. When a feisty single mom and a rising but seemingly macho superstar manager are paired at a corporate retreat in the wild Colorado mountains, they’re desperate to overcome mental and physical hardships and win a rich prize. The problem? Only one can earn a desperately coveted bonus. But when fickle, dangerous weather threatens their collaboration and their very existence, they wonder: is love of greater value than money? Is survival even more critical? Eventually they learn the meaning of true partnership as they face massive floods to save themselves and their associates.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My publisher’s, various blogs, and as much person-to-person as possible. And Awesome Gang, of course!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read, read, read, especially in the genre you’re writing. Write, write, write. Don’t be afraid of critiques, editing and rewrites.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Life is a journey, not a destination. Ralph Waldo Emerson. The sun will not rise or set without my notice, and my thanks. Winslow Homer
What are you reading now?
Alexander Hamilton, Ron Chernow; The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi; A Dubious Legacy, Mary Wesley; Ramona, Helen Hunt Jackson; Moo, Jane Smiley
What’s next for you as a writer?
Challenge and curiosity keep me motivated. I’d like to broaden the appeal and content of my books, while learning things at the same time. I’m reworking a 70s coming-of-age novel for the fourth time.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
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