Welcome to The Comfy Chair Blog...MJ Mallon
Bio:
My alter ego is MJ - Mary Jane from Spiderman. I love
superheros!
On the 17th of November I was born, in Lion City:
Singapore, (a passionate Scorpio, with the Chinese Zodiac sign a lucky rabbit.) My early
childhood was spent in Hong Kong. During my teen years, my parents returned to
my father’s birthplace,
Edinburgh, where I spent many happy years. As a
teenager, I travelled to many far-flung destinations. It’s rumoured that I now
live in the Venice of Cambridge, with my six-foot hunk of a Rock God husband.
My two enchanted daughters have almost flown the nest, but often return
with a cheery smile to greet me.
During the day, I work in an international sixth form with
students from around the world. I’m the meet and greet lady who welcomes them
to their new college and issues them with late slips when they don’t get to
their lessons on time!
I write YA fantasy, paranormal, horror/supernatural
short stories, flash fiction and short form poetry. More recently, I have
produced and compiled an anthology/compilation set during the early stages of
COVID-19 entitled This Is Lockdown.
I’ve been blogging for many moons at my blog home
Kyrosmagica, which means Crystal Magic. From time to time I write articles
celebrating the spiritual realm, inspiration and my love of nature,
crystals and all things magical, mystical, and mysterious.
My eclectic blog shares my three loves: reading, writing, and
creativity. I adore reading and have written over 150 reviews on my blog: https://mjmallon.com/2015/09/28/a-z-of-my-book-reviews/
1. What was your favourite childhood book/author?
My favourite childhood author was C. S. Lewis. I
adored The Chronicles of Narnia,
and to this day I adore reading and writing about fantastical and magical
worlds. I also had a fondness for comic books such as Tintin,
Asterix The Gaul and a lesser
known Scottish comic strip Oor Willie!
2. What inspired you to start writing and how long has it taken you to get to this point?
I’m drawn to three inspirational forces: art, clocks, and
nature. The structural artworks that inspired me to write The Curse of
Time are situated in two different capital cities that I love: Anya
Gallacio’s crystal grotto in Juniper Artland, Wilkieston, Edinburgh and the
Corpus Christi Chronophage clock in Cambridge - King’s parade.
I’m also inspired by the beauty and mindfulness of nature
with frequent wanders in the botanical gardens in Cambridge - these
feature in my poetry, prose and photography collection: Mr. Sagittarius.
I have a day job which restricts my writing time and am
easily distracted! My writing journey has been long and eventful. I started blogging
and writing about six years ago.
Creative chaos! That sums me up. I have to be organised in
my day job, but at home I am the complete opposite.
4. What is the easiest and hardest part of the writing process?
The easiest
and most fun part is the writing. The hardest part is editing and formatting. I
hate editing the most; it frustrates me so much.
5. Which other authors are you influenced by?
Philip Pullman, Jay Kristoff, Victoria Schwab
6. What does literary success “look” like to you?
It’s reading wonderful reviews and selling copies, both
here and abroad. I’m a contented person, so I am happy to continue growing and
gaining new readers. I think I would shy away from fame and fortune!
7. How do you select the names of your characters?
My youngest daughter Georgina insists she chose my
characters’ names in The Curse of Time! With Mr. Sagittarius,
I decided to write about a mythical zodiac character, Mr. Sagittarius.
The names of the three siblings, the identical twins: Harold, William and their
sister Annette just seemed to fit.
8. Do you hide any secret ‘messages’ in your book that only a few people will understand?
No, maybe I should? I’ve never tried this. I once wrote
about a boss that really annoyed me in a horror short I wrote. It was quite
therapeutic.
9. If your book was to be made into a film/TV programme, which actors would play which role?
For The Curse of Time - Candice King would
play the main female character, Amelina. The male antagonis - Ryder - maybe Bill
Skarsgard.Ryder is more difficult to cast!
For Mr. Sagittarius - Perhaps someone quirky
like Jim Parsons
10. What do you hope your readers take away from your book?
With, the Curse of Time, I’d like my readers
to be immersed in the fantasy setting and to be curious to find out what
happens to poor Amelina and her family who have fallen prey to a dreadful
curse.
In Mr. Sagittarius, the emphasis is very
different. This is a light-hearted, magical, whimsical, and humorous read. The
underlying themes are the circle of life, family, love and magic!
My latest release, This Is Lockdown, is a collection and anthology set during Lockdown. This anthology/memoir shares my diaries, poetry, photos and flash fiction during this time, and the thoughts, fears, and hopes in poetry, writing and flash fiction from international writers, bloggers and creatives.
Lastly, Jenn (The Comfy Chair)
likes to enjoy a good read snuggled up with a cup of tea and piece of cake...
what cake or sweet treat would you suggest to accompany your book?
Published Books:
The Curse of Time Book 1 Bloodstone (YA Fantasy)
Mr. Sagittarius - Poetry/ Prose and Photography
This Is Lockdown - My personal
diaries, contributions from international authors on the subject of lockdown in
poetry and writings, plus my poetry, flash fiction and photography.
I am also a contributor to various
anthologies which are all available via my
Author Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/M-J-Mallon/e/B074CGNK4L/
The Curse of Time Book 1 Bloodstone
Mr. Sagittarius
This Is Lockdown
Social Media:
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/m-j-mallon
Published Articles:
Feature and Excerpt for The
Curse of Time: https://issuu.com/electricpress/docs/epnovember2020
Feature for This Is Lockdown: https://lightboxoriginals.com/difficult-times/
Feature for Mr. Sagittarius: https://lightboxoriginals.com/lollipop-leaves/
Poetry: https://spillwords.com/the-magic-of-the-dragonfly/
Feature about Prologues: https://sachablack.co.uk/2018/04/08/prologues/
Thank you so much for the feature Jenn. :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent interview.
ReplyDeleteHi Adele. Thanks it was fun to do
DeleteAlways nice to learn a bit more aboit MJ. Good interview.
ReplyDeleteThank you Allan. Appreciate you popping by to read the lovely feature on Jenn's blog.
DeleteWonderful interview, Marje!! It's lovely to learn a bit more about you! Hugs! xoxo
ReplyDeleteThank you Camilla. Its lovely to be over at the comfy chair!
DeleteLovely interview and interesting to read more about you MJ
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind comment! It was a fun interview. :)
Delete