Writers on the Wharf : Once Upon Another Time with Rosary McQuestion

Okay, I'm getting nervous. It was only four days ago the lovely Maer Wilson graced my Lazy Boy recliner to speak of ghosts and their memories and now I have the delightful Rosary Mcquestion coming over; making her the second female to enter the shed in less than a week making the Back of The Shed gang giddy as lusty teenagers.
I know two women guests should not cause quite a stir, but my fellows don't get to see that many female faces beyond mine and their girlfriends and wives.
It may be a frivolous desire to keep wanting my mates to behave, but it continues to be an eternal hope.
I have to role with the punches and pray they will not embarrass me too deeply.
After all, it would be illegal to kill them and they are just not worth going to jail for!

A knock comes on the door, and I warn the b'ys to behave.
I welcome Rosary and invite her sit down.

Welcome, Rosary McQuestion. have a seat. You probably have heard from other guests that I had only milk crates to sit on, but I have moved on to the Lazy Boy I hope you find it comfortable. Would you like a beverage?

Yes, please, an ice-cold Pepsi would be great!

Thank you for coming Rosary, though I have known you for years, these yahoos are unfamiliar with you, share a little about yourself.

Okay, well I was born in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in Wisconsin and now live in Michigan. I’m in awe of writers who can bang out 10,000 words a day, while I struggle to reach 1,500, and I am very curious about writers who can create sex scenes so sizzling hot that one must occasionally turn away from the page for fear of burning out a retina. I'd grown up in a house that was haunted and had my first experience of knowing when someone was going to die, when I was six years of age. Don’t ask. My career in advertising and marketing spans so many years that I swear it seems it began back in the days of the horse and buggy. Now I am quite content scribbling out stories and leading a normal—err, somewhat normal life with my husband and our three cats.

I wanted to ask how she would know when someone was going to die, just to satisfy my nagging curiosity to find out if she was some kind of secret supernatural, but I kept my mouth shut. I have to respect my guest.

I have seen Once Upon Another Time on your website www.rosarymcquestion.com and I would love to pick it up, but before I do, could you tell me a little about it?

I’d love to. The novel is about a young woman who is on a journey of self-discovery who learns to overcome grief and to find true love again. It’s not depressing but rather quite humorous, as some of my Amazon reviewers have expressed in their review comments.

A quick synopsis is that Aubrey McCory’s husband, Matt, died in a tragic accident when she was twenty-eight and pregnant. For the six years he’s been dead, Aubrey still can’t let go of the guilt she feels over him dying, which at times, had her fantasizing about Matt romantically returning to her one last time. Like in the movie "Ghost," when Sam came back and said it final goodbye to Molly. Then days before the seventh anniversary of his death, a glitch in the universe gives Aubrey the psychic ability to hear what people are thinking. And by all accounts, she seems to also have made a psychic connection with the dearly departed – namely her deceased husband.

As fate would have it, she also meets hunky Gavin Donnelly – whom she feels might be the next Mr. Right – and her life, becomes topsy-turvy.

Once Upon Another Time is a fun-filled romance story that has humor and a bit of mystery and its setting is quaint Providence, Rhode Island.

Wow, Once Upon Another Time sounds intriguing, is there a particular part of the story that you really enjoyed writing?

There are many parts to choose from, but the most fun was giving Aubrey her wish. Because Matt died in a tragic accident, there were things she never got to tell him. Writing those final, romantic moments of letting her say what’s been bottled up inside her for six years and having only seconds left to say it before Matt has to go back to the afterlife, was immensely enjoyable.

I'm getting lost in this enjoyable conversation and had forgot about the gang who have remained quiet, but out of nowhere I hear Jack yell. "Hey dude, tell us who your favourite characters are?"

"Hey Jack, I think it's time for you to come up with a new question!" I yell back.
Jack just shrugs his shoulders and says "It's my favourite question." Then returns to his beer.

Well, aside from the main characters, Aubrey, Laura and Gavin, my favorite characters are, Aubrey’s parents, once known as the Abbie and Anita Hoffman of suburbia. They’re hippies from the '70s generation who look as if they are stuck in a time warp. They make Aubrey wonder how sane she really is after growing up with parents who invited half-naked people to backyard bonfires, grew alfalfa sprouts in the bathtub, and constantly quoted Zen Buddhism. However, she does think their expertise on parallel universes may help her with Matt's ghost.

The other character is Katelyn Walker, Aubrey’s close friend. She's a distinguished academic, a psychiatrist with degrees from Brown University, and quite the celebrity around Providence. She specializes in sex therapy, and has written a new unconventional mommies’ book, Sex, Sizzle, and the Backseat of a Minivan.

Sorry about that, but Jack's question brought another question to light, If Once Upon Another Time were to be optioned for a movie, who do you see playing your main character(s)?

Oddly enough, Mila Kunis would be a great Aubrey and Aston Kutcher would be perfect to play Gavin Donnelly, the next Mr. Right. They both do lighthearted humor very well. Plus they’re a couple in real life!

They will be perfect, Rosary, I could really see actors Mila Kunis and Aston Kutcher playing those parts. I was wondering, as a person who writes on the side, during my down time, my writing process starts with forming the story in my head before I put pen to paper, what is your writing process like?

I take a long time to think about various stories I want to write. Once I settle on one I think of how it would flow. I write out a few quick scenarios to see if I like any of them. My next step before I even start typing anything is that I must first know the ending. The ending will let me know the story I need to write, as well as the characters and who they are. I then create a profile for each character and begin writing the story. I will say, however, that once I get into a story, characters and their original personalities sometimes change, a lot!

I see Terrance come towards us, with his bottle of beer in his hand. He does not see the lobster pot that I forgot to put away, trips over it and practically lands in Rosary's lap, to my horror. The beer splashes in Rosary’s face. She shakes it off and smacks her lips.

Terrance does not miss a beat and asks his question.

"All of this sounds fascinating but I heard writing is a hell of a lot of work, why do you do it, what do you get out of it?"

Hmm, tastes like Barely Wine Ale. I can tell by the rich nutty flavor. Good choice! Perhaps I should have asked for that instead of this flat tasting Pepsi. Anyway, to answer your question, I write because I find that my characters’ lives are so much more exciting than mine and therefore, I can live vicariously through them.

Thanks for the awkward segue, Terrance, now go over with the rest of the b'ys and let me and Rosary have our yarn. Terrance asked you why you like to write, now I want to ask you, is there anything about writing you don't like?

Perhaps when my muse disappears for weeks on end and doesn’t so much as give me fair warning of her departure nor when she plans on returning. It’s quite annoying. But my biggest problem, is trying to write a new novel when I have the interference of social media networking (marketing) to contend with. It’s not that I don’t like to be sociable but it leaves me no time for writing. It’s a terrible catch 22. Lots of Indie writers would agree that marketing takes up way too much valuable writing time.

When you write, what is it that you hope your readers take away from your story?

With Once Upon Another Time, one Amazon reviewer explained best what I had hoped the reader would take away from that story when she said, “Makes you wonder, think, and want to believe in life's miracles.”

Personally, I’ve always believed in life after death—not as we know it, but as something miraculous.

Do you have any other stories you are currently writing or are planning to write?

Yes, I am working on something new. I see more of a benefit in writing a series as opposed to writing singles, so I am now working on a murder/mystery trilogy. It’s a big departure from writing romance, but there are many genres that I find intriguing, and would not even rule out the possibility of writing dystopia, one day.

Thanks a million for answering all my questions…and the others, Rosary it has been a real pleasure. As I said before, I have seen Once Upon Another Time online on your website, www.rosarymcquestion.com is there anywhere else your book is available and what formats?

Yes, Once Upon Another Time, can be found on Amazon at viewBook.at/B00AEGD70A

Normally it is warm on my wharf in August, but today the dark clouds are looming overhead and the wind that is whipping off the water is making my shed cold. I'm looking at Rosary and though she is too polite to say anything, she looks frozen.

You must be frozen solid by now, Rosary. My mates have been pretty greedy with the heat, so I am going to let you go so you can toddle on home and warm up, but before you go is there anything else you want to add?

Only that it’s been so fun chatting with you in your lovely shed, Tina. Thank you so much for inviting me.

The pleasure is all mine, Rosary! Come back anytime.

As I watch Rosary drive away, I pick up the lobster pot and retreat into my home for some peace and quiet and to order Once Upon Another Time.

Some extra Rosary goodies:

The sparkling Rosary:

Breathtaking cover:

The glowing reviews:

What Amazon Reviewers are Saying!

~ "I love this book! Rosary McQuestion wrote a captivating novel. She had me from the first chapter. I could not stop reading it. This novel was interesting, romantic, and vibrant. I will recommend it to everyone I know!"

~ "All of Rosary McQuestion's characters are multi-layered and believable. Some are so well drawn they are almost recognizable even in my world."

~ “Gloriously romantic…one of those books every woman should read who has gone through grief and the anguish of loss.”

~ “The book had everything, old love, new love, humor, sadness, mystery, and intrigue.

~ “A Paranormal Book about grief that will leave you smiling!”

~ “This is a book that is fun, likeable, intriguing, and ultimately quite thought-provoking.”

Buy link:

Amazon at viewBook.at/B00AEGD70A

How to contact Rosary:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RosaryMcQuestion

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoseMcQuestion

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/list/book/16198381

Website: http://www.rosarymcquestion.com