Blog Tour: An Import of Intrigue Guest Post, Q&A and Giveaway!

I’m excited to welcome Marshall Ryan Maresca to the blog today! We have lots to share, first is a guest post discussing the decision to publish to parallel series, and how that works. Second, a Q&A and finally, don’t miss our giveaway! The publisher is generously providing the first and second books in this series:  A Murder of Mages and An Import of Intrigue to the winner. The giveaway is open to the US/Canada.

Welcome Marshall, Thanks so much for joining us today!

GUEST POST

So for the guest post, we asked Marshall if he could discuss the decision to release two parallel series and how he approaches that as an author. 

So, I have two separate Maradaine-based series going on right now (and I’m launching a third—look for the first Streets of Maradaine novel, The Holver Alley Crew in March 2017!), which is kind of a daunting, mad thing for an author to do.  Many authors balk at trying to do just one series, but two (three?  four???) that run in parallel?  Why would I do that to myself?

Well, it started when I first finished the manuscript that became The Thorn of Dentonhill.  I started shopping it to agents, and that was, of course, a long process of perseverance and patience.  While I was doing that, I needed to keep writing, and since I hadn’t sold Thorn, it made the most sense to write a different story with different characters.

So the Maradaine Constabulary was born.  Then once I had an agent, he was shopping Thorn and the manuscript that became A Murder of Mages. I kept writing, creating new Book Ones of potential series—including Holver Alley Crew.

While I was writing these Book Ones, not only was I seeing each of these as a series, but as the possibility to craft a larger narrative of the city of Maradaine as a whole, told through these different perspectives.

As an author, while it seems daunting, it’s also quite liberating.  I think one risk we face when writing a series is burnout—getting tired of writing that one series, telling that one story, and wanting to switch gears to something else all completely.

And I get to do exactly that: after writing Veranix and his companions in the continued adventures of the Thorn in The Alchemy of Chaos, and then come back to Satrine, Minox and the rest of the constabulary crew in An Import of Intrigue, and then back to Veranix with the upcoming The Imposters of Aventil.  And right now?  Writing the Streets crew again with Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe, planning the return to the Constabulary with A Parliament of Bodies, while also finalizing the first book in a possible fourth Maradaine series.

Yeah, it’s a lot.  I have spreadsheets to keep things straight.

In some ways, it’s like I’m writing this grand fantasy epic, but in these discreet, focused sections.  And I’m beyond thrilled that I get to do it, and that you all get to read it.

INTERVIEW

Q: First, can you tell us a bit about your upcoming book Import of Intrigue?

A: An Import of Intrigue is the second Maradaine Constabulary novel, in which Inspector Satrine Rainey and Minox Welling return for a new investigation. There’s a murder in the Little East, which is a neighborhood of foreign enclaves from several different nations all crammed up against each other. The murder is especially vexing, as the scene has been constructed to implicated people from all over the Little East, so Rainey and Welling are forced to delve into all the different enclaves to investigate the murder.

Q: Since this is Halloween, I have to ask (just for fun, not because I think this is a good idea): if you had to incorporate one well known halloween character into one of your works, who would pick, and how would your characters respond?

A: Oh, wow, who’s a well known Halloween character? I’m thinking Frankenstein’s Monster, maybe? I feel like Minox and Satrine would be investigating things around him, and then Minox would be convinced of his innocence—or at least not judge him right away, and then Satrine would have to keep the angry folks at bay while Minox dug for answers.

Q: One of the things I really enjoyed in Murder of Mages was Jinx’s character. How would you best describe Jinx?

A: He’s someone who’s never satisfied, and he doesn’t really understand why other people are. So when other constables are, “Well, we arrested the right guy, we’re done”, he wants to know more—the reasons behind things, how they’re connected. He can’t just let it go and move on.

Q: I also found your inclusion of family with Satrine’s character wonderful (so often kids and family are just side notes and never really impact a character’s ability to run about, doing whatever they want/need to do). Did this present any challenges?

A: Of course it’s a challenge, but at the same time, it’s her entire motivation: make sure her family is taken care of. But she’s got to do the work, so managing that balance is a huge concern. And, of course, a large chunk of her salary goes right to Missus Abernand, the upstairs neighbor who helps her out. But a big thing is how much she lays that burden on herself. In Import of Intrigue, a big thing is that her eldest daughter wants to help, and Satrine doesn’t want her to have to help. She wants to make sure no one else in the family bears her burden.

Q: Can you tell us three things about yourself that our readers couldn’t easily discover about you with a google search?

A: I am pretty open online, so extra secrets are hard to come by, but:

1. I’m a big Trek fan, including and especially Trek books. Those are my literary junk food, and I love them so.
2. Back in the day, I delivered pizzas for a late night pizza place. The kind of place where 2am-4am was our zone, because that’s when people got in from the bars drunk and hungry, and we were there for them. Needless to say: I’ve seen some things.
3. I still have a complete collection of Marvel’s New Universe titles Psi-Force and DP7. Yes, I’m the one who bought those.

Q: And lastly, because we all love talking books, I’d like to ask a question I ask of pretty much anyone, author or not: What are you currently reading?

A: Two things, and one is kind of a cheat answer. First is I’m reading Brian McClellan’s Promise of Blood, which I’m liking a lot. The other one is authorial insider trading: I’m reading Amanda Downum’s yet-to-be-published The Poison Court, which I’m loving. But I love Amanda’s work and think everyone should be reading her more.

Excellent! Thanks so much for joining us today!

GIVEAWAY