Talkshow Thursday: Meet Marilyn Turk
Linda: Thanks for joining me today. Your new release
Shadowed by a spy is the sequel to The Gilded Curse. Where did you find
your inspiration for this story? (Readers: Be sure to scroll to the end for the
book blurb and purchase link)
Marilyn: Hi Linda.
Thanks for having me. Where did I get my inspiration for Shadowed by a Spy? From my readers, first, who wanted to know what
happened to my characters after my book The
Gilded Curse ended. To answer that question, I had to brainstorm where the
characters from the first book went next. It was only natural that they went to
New York, my heroine, Lexie Smithfield’s home and also where she planned to
attend nursing school. As a historic writer, I search for interesting events
that happened in a particular year, and it just so happened a major event, the
landing of Nazi spies on Long Island, happened after Lexie moved back.
LM: I love
reading stories that include real events. The age old question for writers –
are you a planner or a “panster,” and what is your favorite part of the writing
process?
Marilyn: I’m a hybrid
– both. I have to plan the story to pitch it, so I have a synopsis first. But
what happens during the writing is often a surprise. However, I don’t think I’d
ever be able to do a chapter by chapter synopsis as I’ve heard some publishers
have requested. What I do plan is based on the 3-Act screenplay, so I know the
turning point and the black moment and the end and pace the rest of the book
around these points.
LM: You write
historical fiction which requires an extra layer of research to ensure accuracy
about the era. How did you go about researching this particular book and did
you discover any extra special tidbits of information?
Marilyn: Writing historical fiction is an excuse to
do research. Really, I LOVE the research because I learn so many interesting
things. For this book, I contacted every place mentioned in the book. The
nurses’ school no longer exists so I had to contact a number of NY agencies for
information. Although the building still stands, it is currently abandoned, but
what a gem when someone found a map of the original building for me! I read
nurses’ journals from 1942 and even interviewed a 90+ former nurse who let me
know about the uniform code. The hotel in the story is still in business after
years of change, but someone at the hotel was a historian and gave me great
information about it. The fun part was when my husband allowed us to put Long
Island on our summer vacation so I could see the area where the spies landed,
Amagansett, and also see the posh areas of East Hampton nearby. One of my
favorite places was the neo-Elizabethan East Hampton Library built in 1912. The
research librarian was a great help, and the library is so charming, I could
live there!
LM: A fellow
research junkie – excellent! I love research too. You write about multiple
historic time periods. How do you decide which project/era to tackle next?
Marilyn: I started
out writing about the Civil War’s effects on the coast of Florida, but a series
developed that covers a period from 1861 to 1883. Since I live on the coast of
Florida, I’m particularly interested in what happened here. Much of that
history is relatively unknown, so I love finding a nugget of history and
letting my characters experience it. At the time I brainstormed my World War II
book, I was visiting Jekyll Island, GA, so that’s where I met Lexie. In
addition, I’ve been writing a lighthouse blog for over five years, so I’ve done
a lot of research about lighthouses, and that research, of course leads to
stories. If you see a common thread, it’s a coast, so I doubt I’ll ever write a
book set anywhere else.
LM: What’s the
quirkiest thing you’ve ever done?
Marilyn: When I lived in Atlanta, I liked to drive by
historic mansions in the Buckhead area of town and imagine what stories they
could tell. One day a friend was in town visiting and we were driving around
and I decided to drive into the driveway of one of the more forgotten-looking
mansions. When I discovered the owners were in Europe and workmen were there,
we decided to do a self-guided tour until we were asked to leave. I might still
write a story set there (even though it’s not the coast). I learned later it’s
called the Pink Castle and was built in 1923 – think Downton Abbey in Atlanta –
ooh!
LM: You live in Florida,
a beautiful area of the world, and a place many people visit. If money were no
object, what is your idea of the ultimate vacation?
Marilyn: That’s a
difficult question to answer, but I’d love to take one of those river cruises
in Europe and see castles. I’d also love to go to Tuscany and take a cooking
class.
LM: Sounds fun! What is your
next project?
Marilyn I’m currently
working on my Coastal Lights Legacy series. The second book will be out soon
and then I have to finish book three, then book four. After that, I have a
standalone book to write.
LM: Where can
folks find you on the web?
Marilyn:
You can also find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.turk.9
Twitter: @MarilynTurk
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bluewaterbayou/ - where I have a page devoted to Shadowed
by a Spy with lots of cool 1942 pictures!
Book Blurb:
In the dead of night on
June 12, 1942, four sailors climb from their German U-boat and make their way
toward the coast of Long Island, NY. From there, they board the Long Island
Railroad heading into Manhattan. One of the men, Cal Miller, is a US citizen, making
him the perfect candidate for a special mission to infiltrate the States and
gain access to key economic targets he can destroy.
Three seats ahead,
Lexie Smithfield ponders her future as a nurse at Bellevue Hospital and wife to
her fiancé Russell Thompson. A brief encounter with Cal Miller on the train
leads to an unlikely friendship, and ultimately to the fearsome discovery that
this handsome, kindly man is not who he appears to be.
When Russell is given an
opportunity to work overseas, Lexie reluctantly encourages him to go. But his
absence leaves Lexie alone in a strange city where her path becomes
increasingly darkened by her unwitting connection to the German saboteurs. As
the spies lay plans to destroy American factories and bridges, it becomes clear
that only two people can stop them. One is a catatonic patient at Bellevue who
must be strapped to his bed and sedated. The other is Lexie herself, a young
woman who longs only for the security of marriage while ministering to the
war’s physically and emotionally wounded.
Can Lexie’s unintended
friendship with a Nazi spy thwart a terrorist attack? Or will her hopes and
dreams—peace on the American homefront—become another casualty of war?
Purchase Link: www.amazon.com/dp/B07DJ8VM7K
