Mary Kendall
Author Interview - Mary Kendall
Author of Campbell's Boy
California plains in the 1850s.
After the death of his mother on the wagon train out west, Emmet Campbell struggles to find his place in the world. Fighting off town bullies, an evil Irish stepmother and his own learning disabilities, he mostly fends for himself in the boomtown of Colusa, California.
While struggling to find his footing, he never loses his curiosity about the world around him and the people in it. Scuffling and skylarking along the way, Emmet eventually discovers family and identity in places he could have never imagined. With equal measures of the dark and the light, Campbell’s Boy is a tender coming of age tale about what it means to be human.
Author Interview - Mary Kendall
Author I draw inspiration from: Eek...just one? Okay, I definitely get inspired by re-reading old favorites from my early reading days as a kid. So I choose Phyllis Whitney, the grand dame of Gothic suspense and thrillers! I find that writers I read in my younger years are like comfort food to me now---a big bowl of homemade mac and cheese.
Author Interview - Mary Kendall | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book: Outdoors in a shady nook that I have set up entirely for that purpose! It does double duty as a writing nook as well.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Why not?:)
Author Interview - Mary Kendall | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: When my fourth grade teacher told me I should be a writer...that insight clicked with a love of reading already in place. After I got my first novel contract, I found this teacher on Facebook and reached out to thank him for that very early vote of confidence in my writing.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: Paperback hands down. (Hardback is too cumbersome, ebook is an uncomfortable reading experience for me, and audiobook I don't connect with as a medium.)
The last book I read: Woman on Ward 13 by Delphine Woods. This is a wonderful Gothic inspired thriller and mystery from an Indie writer with amazing storytelling chops.
Author Interview - Mary Kendall | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer: Both. Pen and paper get the ideas flowing; computer is the necessary taskmaster.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Nancy Drew for sure. From the Nancy Drew mystery series by Carolyn Keene. I gobbled them up at a young age and always loved the strength of character portrayed by Nancy. I am attracted to that trait in a friend.
Author Interview - Mary Kendall | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: A country western singer.
Favorite decade in fashion history: There's just something about the aesthetic of the 1920s that draws me right in and that includes the avant-garde, cutting edge fashions of that era. Think flapper dresses and bobbed hairstyles.
Place I’d most like to travel: I've always wanted to hike the El Camino de Santiago in Spain and France which would offer so much inspiration with amazing scenery and culture.
My signature drink: Bees Knees cocktail, 1920s era, gin based and infused with honey and lemon. I discovered it when I was researching out a cocktail to go along with a book club meeting for my first novel set in the 1920s, The Spinster's Fortune.
Favorite artist: Again, just one?? I'll go with Georgia O'Keefe, especially her earlier work of landscapes and cityscapes in New York. Overall, I most connect to early twentieth century art and artists.
Number one on my bucket list: Move permanently to a coastal setting. It has been my lifelong dream to live by the sea and, I think, the ideal setting for the writing life.
Anything else you'd like to add: These questions have been so thought provoking---in a good way. Thank you, Ashley, for including me as a guest on the Hasty Book List!
Find more from the author:
https://twitter.com/MaryLavin49
https://www.facebook.com/mary.kendall.3152
https://www.instagram.com/mary.kendall.author/
https://www.marykendallauthor.com
Author Bio: Mary Kendall lived in old (and haunted) houses growing up which sparked a life-long interest in history and story-telling. She earned degrees in history related fields and worked as a historian for many years. Her fiction writing is heavily influenced by the past which she believes is never really dead and buried. Fueled by black coffee and a possible sprinkling of Celtic fairy dust, she tends to find inspiration in odd places and sometimes while kneading bread dough. The author resides in Maryland with her family (husband, three kids, barn cat and the occasional backyard hen) who put up with her mad scribbling at inconvenient hours.
Her debut novel, The Spinster’s Fortune, is a historical mystery. Her second novel, Campbell’s Boy, coming of age historical fiction, will be released in November 2022. She is a previous contributor to Darkstroke’s anthologies for charity with stories included in Dark Paris and Dark New Orleans and one forthcoming in Dark Venice.
