Loucinda McGary Interview on The Wild Sight and Giveaway

She’s just looking for the family she never knew . . .

After her mother’s death, Rylie finds tantalizing clues that send her off to Ireland to find the man listed on her birth certificate as her father. She needs the truth—but how can she and Donovan be brother and sister when the chemistry between them is nearly irresistible?

Uncovering the past leads them dangerously close to madness . . .

Donovan’s visions lead them into mystery and murder, and only by going deep into the fens can they defeat an ancient enemy and bring the truth to light . . . but will they ever be able to get out?

Terra: How did you come up with a story that could easily fit into the life of any Irish person today?

Loucinda: Hmmm, I can’t say that I consciously tried to do that. I usually come up with my characters first and maybe the germ of a story idea, and the story just evolves from there. So if The Wild Sight fits into the life of a contemporary Irish person, that because my hero, Donovan is a contemporary Irish person.

Terra: Did you portray your characters from real people of are they totally fictitious?

Loucinda: I don’t totally base my characters on real people, however, sometimes traits or even names of real people find their way into my characters. For example, I purposely named a minor character after my son, who happens to have an Irish first name. That minor character is married (my son is single) and has two young daughters who are named for two of my real life nieces. My son thought it was “cool” and I haven’t told my nieces yet, but I think they will both get a big laugh out of it.

Oh, and if you want to know where I got some of the traits for Donovan’s bossy older sister, ask my three younger siblings.

Terra: In reading Wild Sight I noticed that you inserted the Irish equivalent for American words to give us a better feel for the culture. Was it hard to research these words and get the proper Lingo and accent?

Loucinda: I made a real effort to make my Irish characters “sound” Irish, so I’m very complimented if you think I succeeded. The Irish have a very distinct diction and syntax, not to mention those interesting colloquialisms.

I tried to recall as much as I could from my trips to Ireland and I also listened to native Irish speakers whenever I could. Yes, it was quite a hardship to watch Colin Farrell, Pierce Brosnan, and Johnny Rhys-Meyers on those late night talk shows. LOL! Movies like “Waking Ned Devine” and “The Wind That Shakes the Barley” helped too, but thank goodness for the Internet! There are all kinds of sites related to Irish mythology and culture, blogs written by Irish men and women, and there was even a great site I ran across of modern Irish slang. So I will say that while it wasn’t difficult to research, it was time-consuming, and a bit addictive.

Terra: I can understand the historical significance behind your plot but was the Irish male really so stereotypical?

Loucinda: I do think that many ethnic stereotypes had a basis in reality. Or maybe perceived reality, like ‘beware of Greeks bearing gifts,’ or ‘Latin lovers.’ I have observed stereotypical behavior in the course of my travels. The Scots really are thrifty, and Italians can not talk without hand gestures.

The Irish truly are a loquacious and charming people, especially the men. A man with a brogue can talk me into just about anything. What more can I say?

Terra: I have to say I love the multi layered paranormal history. Was it hard to try and put these layers into perspective or did they easily fall into place?

Loucinda: Much as I would like to say they fell easily into place, I’ve always been a terrible liar. J Sometimes they did, other times they did not. Or as my Irish characters would say, I had the devil’s own time with it!

I wanted the supernatural beings to seem as real for my readers as they did for my hero, Donovan. But at the same time, they needed to have powers that were not human, and this other worldly realm could be dangerous. It was a fine line sometimes between being far enough removed from reality and being too far out there.

Terra: What part of the book was the hardest to write about and why?

Loucinda: Beginnings are always hard for me and this one was no exception. I wanted to start with some explosive action, but at the same time, I needed to convey a lot about the setting and the back story of the hero. And since this is first and foremost a romance, I needed to get the heroine in there right away and have her in conflict with the hero. So the beginning was tricky.

Then again, the middle is always hard because you can’t allow the pace to lag. I had to keep building the suspense and ramping up the sexual tension, but not too fast. I couldn’t reveal too much too soon. So yeah, the middle was difficult.

But the ending… YIKES! There was so much to resolve and very little time to do it. That was really hard…

Do you get the idea that books are hard to write? But they are great fun too! Especially once you type “The End!”

Terra: Your descriptions of the local areas and peoples really draw you into the scene nicely. How did you come upon such accurate information?

Loucinda: As I mentioned, I’ve visited Ireland. My DH has relatives in Northern Ireland. I probably do too, but I don’t know exactly where. We were lucky enough to see the cottage where his grandmother was born and lived (with her nine siblings!) until she immigrated to America at the age of 16. The house and the land it sits upon are still owned by his family (since at least the 1770s) and provided the basis for the O’Shea cottage in the book. That’s right, two rooms and a loft with ten children. ACK!

I’ve also been to the Giant’s Causeway and quite a few of the other locales mentioned in the book. For those I did not see, like the fens of Lough Neagh, I did do quite a bit of research both online and at the library.

Terra: Your play on Irish Lore and superstitions is quite nice. Do you yourself believe in any of them?

Loucinda: I believe Shakespeare had the right of it (even if he was a bloody Englishman!): There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Terra: Do you have any plans to do a story about any other characters in this book?

Loucinda: Not at the moment, however, I haven’t ruled it out. If my readers are enthusiastic enough about a certain character, or another book with Rylie and Donovan as the main characters, and they let me (or my publisher) know, I always have plenty of ideas.

Terra: You know I saved the best question for last. We all know the Blarney stone is high up on a castle wall, do you think you would ever hang upside down over the wall just to kiss the Blarney Stone as custom insists?

Loucinda: Confession time. I have been to Blarney Castle and climbed up to where you lean over backward to kiss the stone. The castle is actually in ruins and the spot is about four or five stories up in the open air. When I was there, you sat on a stone retaining wall with an ancient metal rail, and a little old man, who probably weighed 120 lbs. soaking wet, held onto you to keep you from falling. I asked him how many tourists he’d dropped that season and he laughed. I looked at the wall you kiss, which is a good three to four feet away from the wall you sit on, and the wet rocky ground way, way below and I chickened out! As my best friend says, I’m plenty eloquent enough without kissing the Blarney stone!

For those of you who comment on this interview, Aunt Cindy will pick one winner at the end of the day to receive an Autographed copy of "The Wild Sight".

Loucinda McGary
The Wild Sight from Sourcebooks Inc.
Oct. 2008
http://www.loucindamcgary.com/
http://www.casablancaauthors.blogspot.com/