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M. L. McBryar is one of those authors you know will bring you a great story as soon as you read the opening paragraph. Words spill from her with a flowing rhythm, and you just can’t stop reading. I’ve often finished one of her novels in one sitting. Not even the threat of a hundred enemy planes shooting missiles at me could persuade me to put down a novel by Ms. McBryar. Okay, I know that sounds melodramatic and over-the-top, but I’m sure you understand my drift.
Born in Lafollette, Tennessee, Ms. McBryar grew up listening to her grandfather telling ghost stories—and this lead to her love of reading and writing. And when she’s not writing her novels, she works for a local newspaper.
I love to ask my authors about their nighttime dreams—because I almost always get a crazy response. Ms. McBryar’s strangest dream occurred when she was pregnant with her oldest daughter, Jessica. She dreamed that she gave birth to 106 babies. They were shooting out like a log ride, and each of them was walking, talking, and dressed in costumes. One was a ballerina, one was a mobster who kept slapping the nurse on the butt, and one was covered in black fur—and she kept telling the nurse that she was going to name him Spot.
Ms. McBryar’s passions, outside of her family, include collecting Buddha statues (she claims the smile is infectious—but her husband keeps teasing her about having a thing for short, fat, bald guys). Another passion is animal protection—helping protect and feed them. If she could, she’d bring home every animal in the shelter. I know the feeling—every time I see that Sarah McLachlan ASPCA commercial, tears spring to my eyes, and I want to take all of the abandoned and abused cats and dogs home.
On Writing, in M. L. McBryar’s Own Words
What or who inspires you to write?
I grew up listening to my grandfather’s stories, usually ghost stories and such. He inspired a love of stories that has lasted my whole life. He really should have been a writer; the man was a terrific storyteller.
Why did you begin writing?
A deep desire to create my own worlds. When I’m writing, the world is how I want it to be.
Which author inspires you?
That’s another toughie. I guess I’d have to say Kim Harrison and Stephen King.
What do you find most rewarding about writing?
For me, the most rewarding part is when someone tells me that something I wrote moved them. Whether it made them happy, fearful, whatever, that’s the real reward. If I can take someone away from their problems for a few minutes, then I’m happy.
When is your next book due, and what’s it about?
My latest, Destruction of an Innocent has been accepted by Tease Publishing for the Dark Tarot Line, and it will be coming out in e-book form later on this month, as well as in print later this year, so I’m pretty excited about that. Destruction is the third installment of the Scepter series, and it’s told from Kylie’s point of view as she follows Talia, protecting her and watching from the shadows. It reveals a lot of Talia’s past and the real reason behind her pursuit of the Scepter of Danu.
Please read my reviews of The Demon’s Eye and The Banshee’s Song, and then visit this talented newcomer online at MLMcBryar.Homestead.com. You just might learn what the M. L. stands for.
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