Meet the Author… Mary Abshire
I’m always on the lookout for new paranormal indie authors. Mary Abshire is a bestselling indie author, producing books that are right up my alley, covering anything from angels to demons, vampires and werewolves, and any other paranormal creatures. Her covers are fabulous too. She’s written more books than I can show you. Let’s find out how she manages all this.
Biography
Mary is a USA Today Bestselling Author who lives in Indiana. Outside of her regular job, she is a world creator, romance producer, and mystery constructor. Simply put – she writes paranormal romance and urban fantasy with mystery and suspense. She loves to create riveting stories with vampires, demons, werewolves, angels, and other supernatural creatures. Her novels are action-packed and keep readers turning the pages for more.
What do your friends and family think of your writing? Do they support your career as a writer?
My 75 year old mother enjoys my books. She buys them and reads them. She’ll ask me from time to time what I’m working on. My daughter doesn’t pay any attention to my books and has no interest in reading them. My friends ask what I’m working on, but they don’t buy or read my books. It’s strange, but true. I have one friend who mentions to other people that I’m a published author sometimes. It seems like most people view it as a hobby since I don’t write full time.
How long have you been writing?
I started in 2008 or 2009. I believe my first books were published electronically in 2009 by a publisher that no longer exists. The first 4 books in the Soul Catcher series are my first books. After my divorce, I didn’t write for about a year. But then I had the urge after I settled into a new house. I used to write like crazy, but now I’m scaling back to around 5 per year. I like to travel a lot and traveling can interrupt my flow.
Music or silence?
Silence.
Do you outline or just write?
When I first started writing, I just wrote. No outline. Over time, and as my memory fades with my age (no laughing), I found outlining to be very useful. I still end up changing things, but an outline keeps me on track.
What’s your favorite genre and why?
Right now, urban fantasy. I’ve always been a fan. I love the various worlds, the mystery, action, and suspense. Paranormal romance is still a fave of mine, but it’s now #2.
Are you a full-time or part-time writer? How does that affect your writing?
As mentioned before, I am a part-time writer. Although I have many books published, they don’t pay the bills or support my travel habits. If I were a full-time writer, the books still wouldn’t pay the bills. I’m not saying my writing is bad or anything. The writing world is much different today, even from 10 years ago. Ebooks were becoming popular back then, so many authors became big without traditional publishers. Writers like me still sought out publishers to get into stores and advertise. Well that didn’t happen. I was with several different publishers over the years and royalties were small. They didn’t help with advertising much. I couldn’t afford to buy book covers and pay for editing up front, so that was another reason I went with a publisher.
Times have changed for me. I can afford a good cover artist and editor. I’ve also learned that it doesn’t matter how many times a book is edited. There are always mistakes, even with big, well known authors. Editors are different. There are different styles. Perfection is impossible. I digress… As for the 2nd part of the question, I think writing part-time doesn’t affect my work, at least not now. I’m still able to write a lot in the evenings and on weekends. On average, I can complete a novel in six weeks by writing part-time.
What made you want to become a writer?
Well, in my thirties, after I’d finished my Batchelor’s degree, I found myself with spare time. As my daughter was growing up, she needed me less. I guess that happens with kids. LOL. Anyway, I read many books. As I was reading, I thought…I could do this. I spent time researching first. I wrote a few stories that were horrible, more telling than showing. But I liked writing, so I kept at it. I went to a few conferences and met other authors. I researched more. And when the Soul Catcher books were published, I thought I might actually be good at this. Well, I didn’t get paid much at all, but I got reviews and people liked the books. If people constantly told me my books were horrible, I’d stop. I’m not a big time author, and that’s fine with me. I just want my stories to get out there and for people to enjoy them. Some extra cash to support my traveling addiction would help. Just saying. 
What are your books about? Tell us about your most recent book and why it’s a must read.
I have a new urban fantasy series coming out soon. It’s called The Gatekeeper. It’s about a young gal who discovers who she really is, what she’s done to protect someone, why her mother did what she did, why my heroine did what she did, and what she has to do to save mankind. There was a Great Reckoning, a big change on Earth and the fight between Heaven and Hell is now on Earth. There’s mystery and a ton of suspense. I loved writing each of the four books in the series. I get a lot of compliments about my Project Eve series, so I wanted to write something with a similar style but completely different world. I did that, so I hope readers will enjoy The Gatekeeper series.
What genre do you consider your books? Have I considered writing in another genre?
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
I do minimal research on names. For The Gatekeeper series, I researched about angels and the different types. I spend a small amount of research on locations. I try to make things as real as possible, but with minor tweaks. For example, the Project Eve series takes place in downtown Indy, where I work. I know the tunnels well, so I used them in the books. I used them in the Divine Justice series, too. But I change a few details and add some. Overall, I don’t spend too much time on research. Maybe an hour.
Do you try to be original in your storytelling or to deliver to readers what they want?
I strive to be original in my storytelling. I want my worlds and stories to be different. I always like it when someone tells me they like the world I created and how different the story is. I feel a sense of accomplishment. I don’t want to be like other storytellers. What’s the fun in that? I know people say it’s important to be consistent. Well, I’m consistently different. I think my writing style is the same, but the stories are just…different.
Thanks for sharing all about your writing with us, Mary. I wished I could produce so many books per year, but my research takes me a lot longer 
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