It is with great pleasure I welcome the very talented author of the Coon Hollow Coven Tales and The Enchanted Bookstore Legends Series, Marsha A. Moore. For those of you who follow my blog closely you may remember that Marsha A. Moore was one of my top five favourite authors from 2015. She already has 8 fantastic titles, including her newly released Witch’s Cursed Cabin. Her title, Witch’s Moonstone Locket, is currently on sale at 99 cents until the end of May 3rd.
About the author
Tell us a little bit about yourself. (Author Bio)
Marsha A. Moore loves to write fantasy and paranormal romance. Much of her life feeds the creative flow she uses to weave highly imaginative tales.
The magic of art and nature spark life into her writing, as well as other pursuits of watercolor painting and drawing. She’s been a yoga enthusiast for over a decade and is a registered yoga teacher. Her practice helps weave the mystical into her writing. After a move from Toledo to Tampa in 2008, she’s happily transformed into a Floridian, in love with the outdoors where she’s always on the lookout for portals to other worlds. Marsha is crazy about cycling. She lives with her husband on a large saltwater lagoon, where taking her kayak out is a real treat. She never has enough days spent at the beach, usually scribbling away at stories with toes wiggling in the sand. Every day at the beach is magical!
What are your hobbies?
I have too many! I mentioned some in my bio: painting, drawing, yoga, kayaking, and cycling. I also am a knitaholic and knit during evening TV watching. For any readers who are knitters, I’m on Ravelry with the username MarshaAMoore. I also like to refinish furniture and have recently fallen in love with chalk paint. I’m crazy about gardening…every flower, herb, veggie, bush and tree fascinates me, all except the lawn grass, which is my husband’s job. Learning how to garden in Florida has been a fun challenge. And I love to read. If I could read while knitting, life would be awesome!
Which writers inspire you?
There are so many. Magical realism books like The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen and Practical Magic and The Green Witch by Alice Hoffman are delicately woven with the most sparkling magic. Other books that captivate me are Natasha Mostert’s Season of the Witch and Erin Morgenstern’s Night Circus. In both of those, magic caused mental effects for both the giver and receiver. I enjoy the complexity of that theme and often employ it in my writing. I also enjoy Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series with how her magic plays off darker emotions.
For your own reading, do you prefer e-books or paper/hard back books?
For reading fiction I prefer e-books. With reference books I need paper copies so I can add notes and mark pages easier.
What are you reading at present?
I’m in the middle of the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr and am also reading Moonheart by Charles de Lint. Loving both!
What is your favourite film/ series and why?
I love the movie Pan’s Labyrinth because it wavers on a line between reality and myth through amazing use of imagery.
What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment?
Helping my family through difficult times. I was the primary caregiver for my mother while she suffered with dementia until her death.
How do you relax?
Writing relaxes me. I love dropping deep into the world I’m creating. If I’m too wound up to write, exercise or gardening is usually what I turn to.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Seek out and work with other authors to improve both your writing craft and your marketing reach.
If your friends could use one word to describe you what would it be? Imaginative
About writing
What made you realise your calling as an author?
Through the years, I picked up a hobby of writing music reviews for record companies. During that time, I was inspired by some of those experiences and tinkered with fiction. Initially, I wrote fiction based on the world of rock music. Through a lucky happenstance, a man who worked for a major book publishing house read my first attempts at fiction, which were posted on a music forum. He repeatedly encouraged me to submit my creative writing to publishers. Over time, I came to believe him and did. After that, a new world opened up and it’s been a wonderful time.
Where do your ideas come from, what inspires you?
Most often nature inspires me. Like many fantasy writers, I’m setting oriented. With my hobbies, I’m outside a lot. It’s necessary to keep me balanced and my creativity fresh. I have an active imagination and can see strange creatures and portals to other worlds all around. I get a lot of positive and amazed comments about my imagination, usually, “Where do you get these ideas?” or “How do you drive with all these wild ideas in your head?” I honestly have no idea—it’s just me and how I think. I’ve been this way as long as I can remember. It does make for some great tales though!
This orientation might be credited to my father. As a child, instead of having a bed-time story read to me, my father prompted me to create stories with him. Together over a few years, we conjured a series of verbal fantasy tales called The Land of Wickee Wackee. The characters and sub-plots interwove. I loved creating new stories in that make-believe world!
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
Usually six to eight months since my books are lengthy with plenty of world-building and plot twists.
Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?
I plan the major story arc with the development of the main characters. I break that outline into chapters, but the connections between those key elements aren’t planned and flow freely. Many subplots come from that freedom.
What is the hardest thing about writing?
Organizing my time so that the marketing doesn’t take away from writing new stories.
What is the easiest thing about writing?
Finding ideas to write. I have many books planned. This release is my 10th published book, and over time it’s become easy to relax into my writing. Anymore, I savor the creation process as a real treat.
Do you ever get writer’s Block and if so, how do you deal with it?
Not really. Once in a while a small transition that connects plot points trips me up, but taking a walk or going kayaking always solves the issue.
How many books have you written, which is your favourite?
I’ve written twelve books, and ten have been published (eight currently available). My favorite of the published books is Witch’s Moonstone Locket with the way the hero, heroine, and antagonist played so well off of each other. I’m also enjoying the book I’m writing now, Blood Ice & Oak Moon, since I’m working with characters who are more troubled and the magic is darker.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m writing the third book in the Coon Hollow Coven Tales series, titled Blood Ice & Oak Moon. This story is about a young woman, Esme, who returns to Coon Hollow Coven at the age of twenty-seven. When she was a child, her mother wanted to keep Esme from witchcraft and took them away. But her mother couldn’t deny the warm relationship the girl formed with her Grammy Flora, a well-respected hedge witch in the Hollow. When Grammy Flora passes away, she leaves her coven property to Esme at a time she needs to escape problems and start a new life. Esme works, best she can, as a hedge witch, who must rely on help from the hedge world of faeries to find all the healing herbs she needs. The fae are shrewd traders. When they open their world to Esme, she’s expected to face the darkness her mother ran from. But if Esme can meet those dangers, the king of the Winter Court will give her a wonderful gift that will change her life…just what she needed to find when she returned to the Hollow.
About the books
What genre are your books?
My Enchanted Bookstore Legends series is epic fantasy romance. The Coon Hollow Coven Tales are paranormal romance, though some have told me historical fantasy romance is a better label since the sexual content of the books is mild.
What book titles have you released so far?
Coon Hollow Coven Tales, a paranormal fantasy romance series:
The Enchanted Bookstore Legends, a five-part epic, fantasy romance series:
Shadows of Serenity, a magical realism/women’s fiction book
Tell us a little bit about the series.
Coon Hollow Coven Tales are about a coven of witches in a fictitious southern Indiana community, south of Bloomington, the neck of the woods where I spent my favorite childhood years surrounded by the love of a big family. The books are rich with a warm 
Hoosier down-home feel. There are interesting interactions between coven members and locals from the nearby small town of Bentbone. If magic wasn’t enough of a difference between the two groups, the coven folk adhere to the 1930s lifestyle that existed when the coven formed.
Note to readers: please feel free to enjoy reading my books about Coon Hollow Coven in any order. Residents of the Hollow may pass in and out of various books, but each book has its own unique and special story to be told.
Where can we buy them?
All the titles are available on Amazon.
(You can click on the book title to be taken to the Amazon page)
Coon Hollow Coven Tales, a paranormal fantasy romance series:
The Enchanted Bookstore Legends, a five-part epic, fantasy romance series:
Heritage Avenged (book 2) (UK)
Quintessence (book 5, final) (UK)
Shadows of Serenity, a magical realism/women’s fiction book (UK)
Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?
Aggie Anders, the heroine of Witch’s Cursed Cabin, is a witch from the New Wish Coven in southern Indiana near the Ohio River. Witches there align their powers with specific elements of nature. Aggie is a sun witch and must recharge from that element.
Having lived her entire life in her parents’ home, Aggie’s more than ready to move out and learn to live on her own. Lucky for her, she has a distant cousin who lives in Coon Hollow Coven, a ways north in the hill-country near Bloomington, Indiana. She eagerly accepts his offer to live in his wife’s deserted, old homestead log cabin. Brave girl! Or desperate to get away from home!
Although Aggie’s a capable sun witch and has a determined and strong personality, magic in Coon Hollow Coven is nothing she expected. Unlike where she’s from, witches in the Hollow gain powers from their deceased family. Spirits remain active in the daily lives of the Hollow’s homes. Some spirits are friendly, while others are moody. Some are evil in the blackest way and have labeled Aggie as an outsider who needs to be run out of town because they fear her different sort of magic. Determined to remain and be away from home, she has a lot to learn and fast!
Who is your favourite character and why?
My favorite character would be Lyra McCauley from my Enchanted Bookstore Legends. She’s the main character of the entire series. With her voice, I worked through many problems I faced while my mother suffered from dementia. That made me especially close to that character. It was extremely difficult to leave that series after I finished writing the closing book. There was a real sense of grief or loss.
In what formats is your book available?
The Enchanted Bookstore Legends are available in digital format only, while the Coon Hollow Coven Tales are also in print.
When is your next book due for release?
I just released Witch’s Cursed Cabin: A Coon Hollow Coven Tale this week. Blood Ice & Oak Moon: A Coon Hollow Coven Tale will probably release in late September, 2016.
Book titles and synopsis:
Witch’s Cursed Cabin: A Coon Hollow Coven Tale
Eager to be on her own away from home, twenty-year-old Aggie Anders accepts a relative’s invitation to live in Coon Hollow Coven. Although she’s a witch from a different coven, what locals say about the Hollow confuses her. How can witchcraft
there live and breathe through souls of the dead?
Aggie’s new residence in this strange southern Indiana world is a deserted homestead cabin. The property’s carriage house serves as the coven’s haunted Halloween fundraiser. It’s a great opportunity for her to make new friends, especially with the coven’s sexy new High Priest Logan.
But living in the homestead also brings Aggie enemies. Outsiders aren’t welcome. A cantankerous, old neighbor tries to frighten her off by warning her that the homestead is cursed. Local witches who practice black magic attempt to use their evil to drive Aggie away and rid their coven of her unusual powers as a sun witch.
Determined to stay and fit in, Aggie discovers not only that the cabin is cursed, but she alone is destined to break the curse before moonrise on Samhain. If she fails, neither the living nor the dead will be safe.
Witch’s Moonstone Locket: A Coon Hollow Coven Tale
Twenty-three-year-old Jancie Sadler was out of the room when her mother died, and her heart still longs for their lost goodbye. Aching to ease her sorrow, Aunt Starla gives Jancie 
a diary that changes her entire life. In entries from the 1930s, her great grandmother revealed how she coped with her own painful loss by seeking out a witch from nearby Coon Hollow Coven. The witch wore the griever’s moonstone locket, which allowed whoever could unlock its enchantment to talk with the dead.
Determined to find that locket, Jancie goes to the coven’s annual carnival held in her small southern Indiana town of Bentbone. This opposes her father’s strict rule: stay away from witches. But she’s an adult now and can make her own decisions. She meets Rowe McCoy, the kind and handsome witch who wears the moonstone. He agrees to let her try to open the locket, but they’re opposed by High Priestess Adara and her jealous desire to possess him. Desperate for closure with her mother, Jancie persists and cannot turn away from a perilous path filled with magic, romance, and danger.
The Enchanted Bookstore Legends, a five-part epic, fantasy romance series:
Enchanted Bookstore Legends (series description):
Genre: Epic Fantasy Romance
The Enchanted Bookstore Legends are about Lyra McCauley, a woman destined to become one of five strong women in her family who possess unique magical abilities and serve as Scribes in Dragonspeir. The Scribes span a long history, dating from 1,200 to present day. Each Scribe is expected to journey through Dragonspeir, both the good and evil factions, then draft a written account. Each book contains magic with vast implications.
Lyra was first introduced to Dragonspeir as a young girl, when she met the high sorcerer, Cullen Drake, through a gift of one of those enchanted books. Using its magic, he escorted her into the parallel world of Dragonspeir. Years later, she lost that volume and forgot the world and Cullen. These legends begin where he finds her again—she is thirty-five, standing in his enchanted bookstore, and Dragonspeir needs her.
When Lyra reopens that enchanted book, she confronts a series of quests where she is expected to save the good Alliance from destruction by the evil Black Dragon. While learning about her role, Lyra and Cullen fall in love. He is 220 years old and kept alive by Dragonspeir magic. Cullen will die if Dragonspeir is taken over by the evil faction…Lyra becomes the Scribe.
Seeking a Scribe (book1)
Lyra McCauley is a writer and loves fantasy novels, but until she opens a selection from bookstore owner Cullen Drake, she has no idea he’s a wizard character who lives a double life inside that volume…or the story’s magic will compel her from the edge of depression to adventure, danger, and love.
His gift to Lyra, the Book of Dragonspeir, was actually her copy, misplaced years ago. Lost in her pain following divorce and death, she fails to recognize him as her childhood playmate from the fantasyland. Friendship builds anew. Attraction sparks. But Lyra doubts whether a wizard is capable of love. She’s torn—should she protect her fragile heart or risk new love?
Opening the book’s cover, she confronts a quest: save Dragonspeir from destruction by the Black Dragon before he utilizes power of August’s red moon to expand his strength and
overthrow the opposing Imperial Dragon. Lyra accepts the challenge, fearing Cullen will perish if evil wins. Along with magical animal guides, Cullen helps her through many perils, but ultimately Lyra must use her own power…and time is running out.
When Lyra opens her lost childhood book, she remembers her destiny as the next Scribe and must save Dragonspeir’s Alliance from overthrow by the Dark Realm.
Heritage Avenged (book 2)
Lyra McCauley receives an alarming letter from the coroner who evaluated her deceased aunt, originally thought to have died of cancer. The news causes Lyra to take leave from her job and travel from sunny Tampa to the frozen island community in northern Michigan.
Questioning whether Dragonspeir magic was responsible for her aunt’s death, she resolves to learn the truth and accepts the Imperial Dragon’s appointment into the Alliance sorcery training.
Additionally, becoming proficient in magic craft is the only way she can bridge the gap between her mortal human world and her lover’s. Cullen, a 220-year-old wizard, is dependent upon his Dragonspeir magic for immortality. He is her only family now; she cannot lose him.
Evil forces block her and try to steal her inherited scribal aura. Riding a stealth dragon, a cloaked rider pursues Lyra. Both the Alliance and Dark Realm alchemists lay tricks and traps. Her aura equals that of the first and most powerful Scribe, but will Lyra’s novice training allow her to discover the truth…and find a life with Cullen? Or will the Dark Realm keep them apart?
Lost Volumes (book 3)
When Lyra McCauley learns residents of Dragonspeir’s Alliance are suffering with a deadly plague, she doesn’t heed the warnings of her fiancé, wizard Cullen Drake, to remain safe in her human world. After all, she’s the present Scribe—one of five strong women in her 
ancestry who possessed unique magic, each destined to protect the Alliance against the evil Black Dragon of the Dark Realm. With Cullen dependent upon Alliance power to maintain his immortality, the stakes are doubled for Lyra.
She leaves her college teaching and puts herself at risk for the community afflicted by black magic. To find a cure, she and Cullen travel into the vile, lawless underworld of Terza to strike a bargain with an expert. Their efforts further enrage the Black Dragon, vowing to decimate the Alliance and avenge the murder of his heir.
Lyra must secure the three lost volumes of the Book of Dragonspeir. Written by the three earliest Scribes, each book contains energy. Possession of the entire set will enable
overthrow of the Dark Realm. Following clues into dangerous lands, Lyra and Cullen seek those volumes. His assistants, Kenzo the tiger owl and Noba the pseudodragon, prove invaluable aids. Only if they succeed, will the Alliance be safe and Lyra reach closer to the immortality she needs to live a life with Cullen.
Staurolite (book 4)
Lyra McCauley, current Scribe of the Alliance, is the only one who can decode magic hidden in the recently retrieved ancient texts written by her ancestors, the first four 
Scribes. Information in those writings can help Lyra locate the four missing keystones, which will restore power to the Alliance and allow overthrow of the Dark Realm. With peace restored, she and her beloved, Cullen, could finally marry.
Time is short with the Black Dragon’s Dark Realm increasing attacks to avenge the death
of his heir. Many innocent lives are lost. Alliance residents are forced into hiding. Magicals and blue dragons follow leadership of the Imperial Dragon and the other three Guardians into battle to defend the Alliance.
While Lyra unlocks the ancient magic, she opens herself up to scribal powers from her ancestors. She alone can fight the deadliest of the Dark Realm’s forces—the cimafa stealth dragons—but at a cost. The energy flux threatens her health and ability to learn where to find the missing keystones. Can Lyra overcome this shrewd tactic of the Black Dragon to decimate the Alliance?
Quintessence (book 5, final)
Barbaric Dark Realm warfare threatens to overtake all Dragonspeir lands, including the Alliance. Lyra McCauley, the fifth Scribe of the Alliance, finds herself in a desperate competition to gather four missing keystones. Those amulets of the four natural elements 
guarantee victory for the side possessing them. The Dark Realm’s alchemist, Eburscon, beats her to finding the water gem, the Pearl of Pendola. Three more keystones remain: the fluorite containing earth energy, the moonstone of the sky, and the fiery, dangerous Emtori Ruby.
The powerful gems, stolen centuries ago, channel astral energies and can restore much-needed Alliance power—the last hope. The wizard, Cullen, who is Lyra’s beloved, relies on Alliance magic for his immortality and will perish if the land falls to the Dark Realm.
Lyra uses her rare magical energies of quintessence and the Staurolite, governor of the four natural elements, to guide her to the hidden keystones. However, greed and power drive opponents, who challenge her in close pursuit, planning to destroy the Alliance, or to claim the power of quintessence for themselves.
The Dark Realm captures the ten-year-old Alliance seer, Kessa. Her abilities can give them information about the locations of the keystones, complicating Lyra’s plans. Will her love, allegiance, and quintessence allow her to save Cullen, Kessa, and the Alliance before the Dark Realm claims all of Dragonspeir?
Shadows of Serenity
Genre: Women’s fiction paranormal fantasy/Magical realism
Joyce Runsey spends her life savings to open a yoga studio in an historic Victorian St 
Augustine house, only to discover the property is haunted. A female ghost’s abusive and very much alive husband still tortures her by using dark witchcraft. The disruptive energy thwarts Joyce’s ambition to create a special environment to train students to become yoga teachers.
Joyce engages in a deadly battle with not only the tormented spirit, but also the dangerous husband. To protect her students from harm, she must overcome mounting obstacles. An unknown swami pays an unexpected visit to give advice on how to free the anguished ghost. Can Joyce comprehend and follow the wise man’s guidance in time to save everyone who depends on her?
Connect with the author:
Website: http://MarshaAMoore.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marshaamooreauthorpage
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarshaAMoore
Google +: http://google.com/+MarshaAMoore
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/marshaamoore/
Amazon author page: amazon.com/author/marshaamoore
Goodreads author page http://www.goodreads.com/marshaamoore
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/MarshaAMooreNewsletter
K.J's Athenaeum 
Thank you for the wonderful interview, K.J.!
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