Siren Song by Rebecca McKinney - Book Tour
Siren Song by Rebecca McKinney @BexMcKinney @lovebooksgroup #lovebookstours #SirenSong
Synopsis:
A man who glimpses other people’s inner worlds, and a woman who can foresee death. Can they trace a missing girl before the worst happens?
Harrison Jones is a university lecturer with a secret: he moonlights as a psychic detective. Amy Bell is a paramedic who has the uncanny knack of knowing things are going to happen before they do. From their first accidental meeting on an Edinburgh bridge, both of their lives are destined to change.
Harrison invites Amy to help him investigate the disappearance of a beautiful young singer. The search will lead them into the murky world of human trafficking, from Edinburgh to the streets of Athens, and into the darkest corners of the human mind…
Buy Link:
The eBook will be only 99p for the duration of the tour.
INTERVIEW
1. What would you consider to be your Kryptonite as an
author?
Chronic self-doubt and
impostor syndrome! That nagging feeling of not being good enough.
2. If you could tell your younger writing self anything,
what would it be?
Be true to what you
want to do and don’t let other people convince you not to do it!
3. What book do you feel is under-appreciated? How about
overrated?
It’s all so
subjective. There are hundreds of thousands of under-appreciated books out
there, and only a very tiny number that receive much publicity. I often find
books on literary awards lists overrated, although I REALLY don’t want that to
sound like sour grapes. I try not to judge others for what they choose to read.
If you find a book you love and connect with, it doesn’t matter what anyone
else thinks of it.
4. Favorite childhood memory involving books?
Many. Gazing at the
gorgeous colour plate illustrations in our ancient family copy of Little Women…
When I was about eleven or twelve, my mother bought me Clan of the Cave Bear by
Jean M Auel and I consumed it with wicked delight. It contains some pretty
explicit sex scenes. I doubt my mother knew about those at the time… Crying
with laughter the first time I read The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy…
5. If you could dine with any literary character, who would
it be and why?
Am I allowed to say
Jamie Fraser (from Outlander)? His dinner diary is probably full for the next
several centuries. If not him, then… Rivers, from Pat Barker’s Regeneration
trilogy. He’s a fictional representation of a real man (anthropologist,
psychologist, army doctor during WWI), and she portrays him with such deep
compassion and brilliance. He’s a fascinating character.
6. What fantastical fictional world would you want to live
in (if any) given the chance?
The Shire.
7. Did you want to be an author when you grew up?
Absolutely. I used to
imagine myself tucked up in some candlelit tower, writing with a fancy pen.
8. If you had to describe yourself in three words, what
would they be?
Empathic. Curious.
Scatterbrained.
9. What is your most unusual writing quirk?
I think I write male
characters far better than female ones. I’m sure there’s probably a deep
psychological reason for this, but I don’t want to go into that right now…
10. What’s one movie you like recommending to others?
It’s not for everyone,
but The Right Stuff—based on the book by Tom Wolfe, about the early space race
and Nasa’s Mercury programme. As a snapshot of a historical time, and as a
character study, it’s both fascinating and hilarious. I was always a bit of a
space and airplane geek as a kid. Right now, I’d highly recommend Black
KKKLansman—Spike Lee’s film based on the true story of a black cop who
infiltrated a local branch of the KKK. Absolutely essential viewing.
11. If you could own any animal as a pet, what would it be?
I have three cats… two
mini tigers and a mini black panther. That’s probably enough for the time
being.
12. Have you ever met anyone famous?
In around 1997, I
spent a really drunken night in the Oxford Bar in Edinburgh with the writers
Iain Banks, Andrew Greig and Alasdair Gray. They must have come from some
literary do, and we all ended up singing socialist songs together. That kind of
thing happens in Edinburgh. It’s one of the things I love most about the city.
13. What is the first book that made you cry?There is probably
something that makes me cry in every book I read, so I honestly don’t remember.
I cry very easily.
14. How long, on average, does it take you to
write a book?Too long. I’m not
good at planning, and I don’t have as much time as I’d like. I wrote the first
draft of Siren Song in about three months, actually, but it’s taken me A LOT
longer to edit, rework it and go through the whole process.
15. What creature do you consider your
"spirit animal" to be?
Probably a black cat… Or maybe an owl.
Probably a black cat… Or maybe an owl.
16. What are your top 5 favorite movies?How to pick just
five?
17. If you were the last person on Earth, what
would you do?It would be truly
horrifying to find myself in that situation. I guess I would probably go
looking for others.
18. What fictional character would you want to be
friends with in real life?Samwise Gamgee or
Katniss Everdeen. You know they’d always have your back. Or maybe Iorek
Byrnison, from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials… I mean, who doesn’t want an
armoured bear at their side?
19. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?Read and write.
Repeat, ad nauseum. Also, try to find yourself a supportive community of other
writers to share work with. Write the stories that interest you, not what you
feel others want you to write. It’s a craft like any other; very few people get
good at it without hard work and practice. Don’t give up.
20. What book do you wish you had written?The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx.
21. Tell us 10 fun facts about yourself!I spent my first few
years of life in a log cabin in a teeny town called Eldorado Springs, Colorado.
It only had a single loop of dirt road going through it, and a beautiful
natural spring water swimming pool where I learned to swim.
I was horse crazy
between the ages of 7 and 17. I spent hours a day at the barn, and I got on far
better with horses than I did with other kids.
My dad was a
physicist and my mother an artist and art teacher, so I grew up with the two
influences of art and science. I think they’ve both shaped me very powerfully.
I came to Edinburgh
to study social anthropology in 1994, met a man and never left. I’m still
married to him. We have two kids, three cats and an expanding collection of
musical instruments.
The first short
story I ever published was based on the men who used to drink in a bar I worked
in. On quiet shifts in the bar, I used to write stories on bar napkins.
In my alternate life
I do community development work for a charity and have also recently trained as
a counsellor.
I sometimes pick up
the guitar and sing, but I’m not very good.
My happiest places
are in the woods, on the top of a hill, or on an empty beach. Also, my kitchen
on a cold winter night, cooking something delicious.
I own a pair of cowboy
boots and can make a MEAN magarita.
22. If you could live in any time period, what
would it be and why?In all honesty,
right now, I’d probably go back to a time and place where I could live in a
small tribal group and concentrate my efforts on surviving and keeping the gods
happy. Ideally somewhere not too cold. Polynesia, maybe, before the coming of
Europeans. It’s easy to romanticise, but that sounds pretty nice.
23. What is your favorite genre to read?I’m very fickle—I
bounce between genres a lot, depending on my mood. I love anything from fantasy
to literary fiction. If the characters and story are engaging and make me
think, I don’t really mind what the genre is.
Author Bio
Rebecca McKinney is a writer, therapist and community development practitioner, living and working in Midlothian, Scotland. She shares her home with her husband, two teenagers, three cats, and a growing collection of musical instruments.
Previous novels:
The Angel in the Stone: shortlisted for the Highland Book Prize, 2017: Sandstone Press
Blast Radius: 2015: Sandstone Press
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