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FEATURED AUTHOR
PEG DEMARCO
About the Author
The road to becoming published has been a rocky one, but some notable events provided me with some terrific material along the way. Joining the Peace Corps in 1969, I served two years in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and fell in love with the land, the culture, and most of important of all the wonderful people. I finished my two-year tour, but returned two years later and lived in Nigeria, West Africa. During my Peace Corps tour, I wrote a newspaper column, "Reflections from Africa," and articles for an anthology published by the Peace Corps. One article, "The Beggar," was submitted and chosen for a live reading at the Rotunda in Washington, D.C. during the Corps' twenty-fifth anniversary. The article was also published in World News.
I wanted to bring the African flavor back to America and, using my writing as a vehicle, my two current books, "After the Twilight" and "Kano," contain chapters set in challenging locales. Both books take place during the early 1970's, so I'm hoping "baby boomers" that read my books will recall that exciting period with affection while new readers will enjoy a glimpse into the past. "After the Twilight" has been adapted to a screenplay, and I've got an agent hard at work in Los Angeles trying to persuade a producer or two to take a look at it. It was also entered in Project Greenlight and received two good reviews.
Personally, I have two sons (29 and 20) and a daughter (25), and my husband and I reside in Concord, North Carolina, with three dogs and a cat. I realized long ago that we'd all starve if I didn't have a career to finance my writing, so I'm presently employed by a super boss as an Office Manager for a consulting business in Charlotte, NorthCarolina.
In addition to writing, I enjoy watching movie classics with strong-willed heroines, such as Bette Davis and Katherine Hepburn, and going back even further to Greta Garbo. My favorite writers are Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, and my dream is to be watching a Broadway play written by yours truly and wondering, as I do so often, how I could have improved the dialogue!
I hope you will enjoy my books, and when you have a moment, please
take a glance at my website www.ebooks-romances.com.
About the book: Kano
Skyler Sinclair, a rich, spoiled, beautiful redhead, literally stumbles into Royce Chandler's arms while spying on him one afternoon in her best friend's garden. He's brash, arrogant, and incredibly attractive, and Skyler quickly succumbs to his charm.
However, Royce's determination to travel the world and maintain his freedom is evident right from the beginning when he dismisses her as just another pretty face to add to his collection. Working for an international building foundation, his current construction project is building a hospital in Kano, Nigeria, West Africa, and Skyler tricks him into allowing her to spend two weeks visiting him.
A need for nurses in the new hospital convinces Skyler to finish nursing school and she returns to Kano to work at the hospital, but she's soon thrown into a quandary when she meets Kyle, Royce's older brother, who showers her with attention and works behind the scenes to sabotage her relationship with his brother.
Skyler's nursing skills are tested by the hardships endured in a primitive land and a rigid supervisor, and her emotional needs are put in a tailspin when Royce, not wishing to be tamed by any woman, transfers to Kenya, leaving her to cope with a surprise pregnancy, a stodgy hospital board, and an eager Kyle waiting in the wings to win her love at any cost.
The sub-plots to the novel include Skyler's tempestuous relationship with Mamuda, Royce's manservant whom she inherits, and the political unrest of the 1970's in Nigeria when coups threaten the stability of the government and the foreign workers who struggle to survive.
Living in Africa must have been quite an adventure, is there any other place in the world where you haven't been yet and would like to go to?
No, not really, except perhaps East Africa to experience the natural beauty of the land and see the animals in their natural habitat. From a young age, I yearned to see places that were culturally diverse -- I wanted to see firsthand what I saw in movies or read about in textbooks. I wanted to meet people from different parts of the world who could tell me how and why their lives were unique to their land. Joining the Peace Corps gave me a terrific opportunity to do just that.
It's one thing to travel as a tourist and quite another to live and work in a foreign land earning a salary on that country's pay scale! You experience firsthand the foods they eat, the places and things to avoid, the way to survive the natural elements of the environment. The heroine of "Kano," Skyler Sinclair, does just that -- survive during a politically difficult period and in a primitive environment...and she does it quite well!
Is the book based on your own experiences?
I wish I could say that the book was based on my own experiences because Kano is a hot, passionate, romantic adventure! But my travels to West Africa during the 1970's helped inspire me as far as location, culture, and historical events. Some of the subplots, for example getting lost in the hot desert sun, was based on my own personal experience.
Why do you write?
I write because I've always loved to write and I enjoy that venue of expressing myself. I started writing in grade school and my mother introduced me to all the classics. The Bronte sisters were probably my favorite writers because their books tended to be dog-eared from the numerous times I read them.
What sort of books do you like to read?
If I told you I didn't do much reading these days, would you believe me? Sad to say, there just isn't enough hours in the day to pick up a book and read. However, when I do get some time (like when I'm down with the flu and can't possibly get into work or even out of bed), I enjoy a good crime drama. While overseas, I usually read a book a week and read almost all of Agatha Christie's mysteries.
Do you find other writers have influenced your writing?
I don't know if they have influenced my writing or not, but I can only hope that somehow, someday, something I write will be compared to the great Tennessee Williams. Arthur Miller is my second favorite. The depth of their characters is amazing to me.
If you could meet any character from a book, who would it be and why?
Scarlett O'Hara. I'd ask her why on earth she would ever give up Rhett Butler for Ashley? Seriously, going back to the Bronte era, I'd probably like to meet Jane Eyre and walk the Rochester castle with her, visit the moors, experience the English countryside. The only thing I might object to is the awfully uncomfortable gowns all the women had to wear during those days so I'd want to dress Jane in a good pair of jeans and loafers.
What are you currently working on?
I hope to someday get a comedy done, which is quite different from the two books I've already written. I also would like to adapt "Kano" into a screenplay as I've already done with my other book.
What have you found to be the best way of promoting your book?
The easy part is writing the book -- the difficult part is promoting it! I've joined some organizations for romance writers for promotion, such as Romance Writers of America, and Divas of Romance. I also contribute copies of my CD's to contest giveaways. I'm looking into bookmarks as another way. This is very new to me so whenever I see a new idea, I'm so grateful. I've entered both books into contests and hope to enter them into this year's Eppie contest.
And finally, what advice would you give to writers starting out?
If you believe in your work, NEVER give up! I had been trying to get my first book published for over ten years - had a paper publisher that went bankrupt, an agent who took the money and ran, another agent that did nothing for a year, and then suffered when an e-publisher disappeared just as my book was about to come out.
However, once you find a publisher you can trust, like Deron Douglas from Double Dragon, you realize then that all the pain you went through was probably worth it because now you've finally found someone else that believes in your work and the reason you decided to become a writer is even more crystal clear in your mind.
Thank you, Peg!
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