Today I’d like to introduce you to Bonnie McCune and her new book “Never Retreat” published by Imajin Qwickies.
Hi, Madeline, and readers and book lovers,
Writers are communicators, so I’m over the moon to connect with all of you. I’d love to get feedback because with fiction writing, my thoughts are flowing outward, but I seldom get a chance to interact with readers.
I think I share with Madeline a love of humor and the absurd in writing. So although our books may be categorized as women’s fiction or mysteries, they contain the stuff of being human, firmly rooted in seeing the funny side of life. In terms of other qualities or traits, only time will tell if we’re similar.
The process of writing both energizes and exhausts me. The energizing usually occurs when I cry “Eureka!” because a passage has flowed out of me mysteriously. The exhaustion comes in rewrite after rewrite (usually when a critiquer has found something that doesn’t make sense).
I’ve been at this activity for decades. I’m always looking, and failing to find, shortcuts. Not for the actual writing, for the marketing and promotion primarily. I once had a brilliant idea to create a pseudonym using the last name of a famous author. I thought a publisher or agent might think I was his illegitimate daughter. If I remember correctly, I chose William Faulkner and William Burrows. Not a soul was fooled.
I don’t believe in writer’s block. Only the wealthy can pamper themselves with that excuse. I spent years doing freelancing, mostly news and features in small publications. I learned to sit down and crank out the work because upon occasion, part of my family’s groceries came from that source.
On the other hand, I do view writing as a kind of spiritual practice. Maybe not “spiritual” so much as cerebral exploration and learning. Writing’s given me new subjects to research. Even more important to my mental well-being, writing enables me to figure out people and interpersonal relations. Maybe you can tell I majored in psychology in college, although a friend of mine accused me of doing so simply because the case studies fascinated me.
So what characteristics does a fiction writer demonstrate? One trait has to be an insatiable curiosity, a need to know. Another is a what-if mind. What if I threw a man and woman on a planet with scary aliens? What if the leader of every country in the world suddenly disappeared? What if a good man’s goodness was visible through a tangible halo?
A big ego is possibly the least desirable attribute. A writer needs to be an observer, not a braggart. She should be a spectator not a leader, at least not in the writing world where she lives most of the time. Don’t misunderstand—a writer certainly might be an egoist, i.e. self-centered. But not an egotist, a conceited, boastful person.
My voyage into writing started as a child. When I was very little, I had an old record player and a red plastic record with spoken stories. Then I discovered stories came in books, and I was sold. My first favorite book was called “The Backward Day” by Ruth Krauss. In it a little boy wakes up and decides he’ll do a number of things backward, including dressing in that fashion and sitting in his breakfast chair rearward. I was enchanted by the tiny little rebellion this represented. Over a few years I graduated to the Black Stallion series, the Little House series, Black Beauty and many others. In seventh grade I discovered science fiction with “The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet” by Eleanor Cameron. I was so enchanted by the idea that I could visit parts unknown via books, I decided to be a writer myself. I’ve never stopped.
NEVER RETREAT FACT SHEET
CONTACT: Bonnie McCune, 303-377-1455, Bonnie@BonnieMcCune.com
BLURB: A feisty single mom clashes with an ex-military, macho corporate star at a business retreat in the wild Colorado mountains, where only one can win a huge prize. But when a massive flood imperils their love and survival, they learn the meaning of true partnership.
Years ago, Ramona (‘Raye”) Soto faced harsh reality when a roving con man knocked her up. Now at thirty-something she’s concentrating on her career in a major telecommunications firm and funding college for her teenaged son. Enter Desmond Emmett—a fast talker and smooth operator. New to the office, the ex-serviceman possesses every negative quality for a guy Raye should avoid. Thrown together at a corporate retreat in the wilderness, the reluctant duo struggles to complete management’s extreme mental and physical tests for a huge reward. But only one can win the prize, and Des needs the money to underwrite medical treatments for his adored younger sister.
See-sawing between attraction and antagonism, the mismatched couple, Raye and Des, face their biggest challenge: learning the meaning of true partnership. When a massive flash flood sweeps down the rocky canyon and threatens their love and survival, they must put aside their difference to rescue their colleagues—and their future as a couple.
WRITING: This is the new fiction for you: unafraid to debate contemporary concerns. . . pulls no punches. . .provides a fresh look at age-old issues. This is your kind of writing if you think. . .People are smarter than any phone. . .Feminism is just starting to come alive. . .You’ll always take a human over the most advanced app. . . .You can laugh at yourself. . . Women use four-letter words, including l-o-v-e.
AUTHOR BIO: Bonnie McCune has been writing since age ten, when she submitted a poem about rain rushing down the gutter to the Saturday Evening Post (it was immediately rejected). This interest facilitated her career in nonprofits doing public and community relations and marketing. She’s worked for libraries, directed a small arts organization, and managed Denver’s beautification program.
Simultaneously, she’s been a freelance writer with publications in local, regional, and specialty publications for news and features. 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 Bake Off. A special love is live theater. Had she been nine inches taller and thirty pounds lighter, she might have been an actress.
Her true passion is fiction, and her pieces have won several awards. Never Retreat is her third novel and her fifth book of fiction. For reasons unknown (an unacknowledged optimism?), she believes one person can make a difference in this world. Visit her at www.BonnieMcCune.com, Bonnie@BonnieMcCune.com, twitter.com/bonniemccune, facebook.com/authorBonnieMcCune, www.linkedin.com/in/BonnieMcCune.
PUBLICATION INFO: PUBLISHING MARCH 15, 2018, 978-1-77223-350-6 Kindle ebook, 978-1-77223-351-3 Trade paperback, 240 pages. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079SY632Z, http://getBook.at/NeverRetreat or. Imajin Books, www.imajinbooks.com. Ebook and paperback.
ADVANCE PRAISE: “A breathtaking page-turner that will leave you exhausted but wanting more!” —Corinne Joy Brown, award-winning author of Hidden Star; “Likable, relatable characters…a real treat!” —Cindi Myers, author of The View from Here; “Intriguing…engaging…A great vacation read for sure!” —Meg Benjamin, author of the Brewing Love Trilogy; “A compelling story about a hard-working single mom who faces adversity head-on, learns from her mistakes, and perseveres.” —Kim McMahill, author of Marked in Mexico; “Few novels operate on such different levels, moving their characters to challenge not just each other, but their own not just each other, but their own perceptions. . .McCune provides just the right blend of comic relief, interpersonal encounters, and outside environment changes to make her story a powerful blend.” –Midwest Book Review