Mark is offering a dynamic book giveaway to 3 randomly selected commenters. Each winner will receive a set of both of Mark's novels: CUTS LIKE A KNIFE and EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE. You may preview the book trailer for the first one below--an awesome video! The winners will be announced on March 15th between 4-6 PM EST. For convenience, please insert your email address into the body of your comment. Thanks... and good luck!
Interview with Mark Gilroy
You’ve been in publishing for more than 30 years; what got you started down that path?
There’s
an old adage that success breeds success. I really wasn’t a very good student
in elementary, high school, and the beginning of my college career. I did what was
considered outstanding work—but only once in a blue moon. I was very
inconsistent; I probably would have probably been diagnosed with some form of
attention deficit in later generations. But about halfway through my second
year of college I added a second major to go along with biblical literature:
Journalism. Maybe it was because writing articles felt like a more relevant—and
quicker—process than term papers, I immediately started doing better in those
classes and then all my classes.
At the beginning of my junior year I got a call from a prof that the
local newspaper was looking for a sports intern to take calls from football
coaches on Friday nights and write up a digest of local high school games,
doing my best to sound like I’d been there. That hit my sweet spot as a sports
fanatic and the editor loved my work. I got my own byline that year, which
seemed like a huge deal to a 20-year-old. I picked up confidence and it seemed
to lift all my class work to another level. So the experience of success as a
writer gave me a taste for success in an area I’ve pursued most of my adult
years.
On
a side note, I’d just say to teens and young adults who haven’t had great
success in school and academics, don’t feel stupid and don’t give up; you don’t
know what will flip the switch for you academically.
After years as a writer, marketer,
manager and publishing executive, what motivated you to put yourself out in the
public as a novelist?
I
will confess that when I wrote Cuts Like
a Knife I did so under a female penname. I wrote a business plan to create
a fictional female author to stand in as the author. I started presenting the
first novel as an agent to a couple of the New York houses, got some solid
meetings and reads, and thought I had it sold. I made it to final review
committees with three of the big six publishers, but each eventually said no. I
got into an informal conversation about the book with Jeana Ledbetter who heads
up acquisitions at Worthy Publishing. She said she’d read it if I told her who
really wrote it. I owned up, she followed through, and I had an offer on the
table a week later. That’s how I put myself out there; reluctantly.
Why
did I finally write a novel? A few of my friends might suggest I’m just slow. I
don’t have a good answer other than to say that after reading thousands of
novels I woke up one day and said I’m going to write my own novel. Working
evenings and weekends—and enjoying almost every minute of it—I churned out 100
thousand words in about six months.
Another
aside. If you want to write a novel, start with the writing before you think
about the selling. I get approached by people who have the idea for a novel
that ask me how to sell it before writing a word. No big deal on getting input
into the process, but it’s ultimately about the story and the writing.
Non-fiction can be sold with a great outline and sample chapters. But rarely
does fiction get sold without being a finished product. If that doesn’t seem
right and fair, you better get over that fast. Fiction is a labor of love that
always begins with sweat equity.
You’ve had a successful career as a
publisher, did you have any fears that your work might not be well received?
That’s
a very polite way of putting it Elaine! I’ve had some bad reviews, of course.
The good and great have far outweighed those, so they don’t bother me. If the
majority of reviews leaned neutral to negative, I’d probably be a basket case.
But going into the process, I had a confidence based on two things: (1) I’d
read enough great novels that even if I couldn’t pull off great, I might be
able to get to good or very good; and (2) I knew with my marketing background I
would have enough feedback and common sense to throw it away if people were
letting me know it wasn’t going to work. I’d have been happy just to have
tried. (I think.)
This
may be a bad analogy but I found if I never fell when I skied, I wasn’t pushing
myself very hard. We all love comfort and that’s great. But every now and then
we have to push ourselves and take a risk; to put ourselves in a place where we
can succeed or fail miserably! That’s when we step out of the comfort zone and
grow. I can honestly say that writing my novels has been invigorating.
You’ve got a fabulous and fearless
lead character in Kristen Conner, a detective for the Chicago Police Department.
You’ve had great reviews, but what makes your fiction stand out?
I
think it was the approach I took. After reading many of Tony Hillerman’s Jim
Chee novels I realized Hillerman wrote very religious novels that weren’t
religious novels. (I confuse myself sometimes too.) He had a great detective
who happened to be a reflective, introspective devout Navajo. But never once
did I read a review that called Hillerman’s novels “Navajo novels.” They were
mysteries. When I read Christian novels they were definitely Christian novels.
Nothing wrong with that. There are many great starting points as a novelist.
But
I decided I would write murder mysteries that just happened to have a detective
that loved God, her family, and even her colleagues—and who sometimes fights
with all of the above. I was very pleased when one of Amazon’s power reviewers
gave both my books great reviews but went to great lengths to say to readers
that the novels were written for a general audience, not just a Christian
audience. In the USA Today review, the comment was made that Cuts Like a Knife
“has a very subtle faith thread that enriches rather than suffocates the
story.” I took that as a compliment.
Oh,
I think one other thing that makes my novels stand out is that they are written
primarily in first-person active, which to me, gives the most poignant and
intimate glimpse into a character, but is a tough voice to write in. Then
there’s that gender thing. As a male writer I’ve had many ask how I pulled off
writing with a female voice. I just answer that with three daughters, it wasn’t
as hard as it sounds.
Author Bio:
Mark
Gilroy is senior vice president for Worthy Publishing and author of the highly
acclaimed novels, Cuts Like a Knife and Every Breath You Take.
You can connect with Mark at:
Mark's
Ah-hahs to Tweet:
“If
you want to write a novel, start with the writing before you think about the
selling.” (Click To Tweet)
“Fiction
is a labor of love that always begins with sweat equity.” (Click To Tweet)
