There are no areas where I’ve struggled; it’s all fiction, inspired by real-life events.

Bonnie Mill Lemke – 18 March 2019

The Back Flap

Mollie’s Follies is a revised version of “Fractured-the state of having been broken.” Main character Mary Lynn Sharp aka Mollie is a prime example of what happens when a little girl is traumatized throughout her formative years. Rippling affects of such a stormy childhood have very negative impacts on every person she meets along the road of life. Utmost motivation for writing this novel is an attempt at influencing adults to be extremely careful with what they say and how they treat their babies.

About the book

What is the book about?

Mollie’s Follies is about a young, beautiful teenager who’s been abandoned by her family. Mary Lynn Sharp, aka Mollie, is on the run.

Traveling across the USA Mainland alone, she wanders from the East Coast to the West Coast and back again looking for compassion, love, and a place to call home. Mollie marries several times; each marriage, except her last, is a disaster. This read deals with addiction; death; betrayal; narcissism; faith and hope; a protagonist with courage to admire; life lessons to ponder; and uses double-meaning word- play for entertainment.

When did you start writing the book?

When I started writing Mollie’s Follies, I had three books in mind and worked on the first and second manuscript intermittently. Mollie’s Follies is the first book; second novel, Blue Pearl & Pepper Rose, I suspect will be finished by the end of this year; and then My Father’s Farms,” the last, I’ll begin next year.

How long did it take you to write it?

Have been writing since January of 1999.

Where did you get the idea from?

These reads are fictionalized but life itself provided the fodder for these manuscripts.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

There are no areas where I’ve struggled; it’s all fiction, inspired by real-life events.

What came easily?

Writing is great therapy. It’s a release. It’s a way pour out your heart and bleed without bleeding.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

My characters are fictitious

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

Some of my favorite authors are Joyce Meyer, Diana Galbaldon, Bill O’Reilly, Zig Zigler, and Nora Roberts.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

I don’t have a writing process other than my mind’s eye. I write what’s in my heart.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

I’ve tried outlining; but, IMHO it’s too time-consuming. I write the core of what I’m hoping to write and then go back and expand upon it.

Did you hire a professional editor?

I’ve hired editors and publishers and none of that worked out favorably. Publisher didn’t like the editor and then the publisher and I didn’t agree. Would set-up meetings and the publisher would stand me up. So went the self-publishing, self-editing route.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

I do not listen to music when I write. I’m a lover of Traditional Country Music but need to have it quiet when writing.

About Publishing

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

I live in New York State. The publisher/editor I had been using were twins, living in Florida. Our last meeting was to be in Orlando.

I showed. They didn’t. That was the last contact I had and is what drove me to use Amazon, kdp.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I’m winging the promotional angle; have done nearly 1,100 individual book ads on Facebook sites. Have hired Whizbuzz, Indie Book Lounge; and a couple other sites for Indie Authors.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors

The only advice I’d tell anybody is, “Don’t give up; keep on keeping on.”

About You

Where did you grow up?

I grew up on a dairy farm on the main road between, Orchard Park and East Aurora, two Southern Tier suburbs of Buffalo, New York.

Where do you live now?

My geologist husband, I, and two dogs, have been living in a small, country town called South Wales, N.Y., six miles from my childhood home.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I’m working on a second novel called Blue Pearl & Pepper Rose.

End of Interview:

Get your copy of Mollie’s Follies from Amazon US or Amazon UK.