Author Spotlight: M.L. Crum

Introducing M.L. Crum, author of the paranormal romance Irony of Time:

1. Tell us a little about yourself.
I was born and raised in Frederick, Maryland.  I now live in southern Pa.  I wrote all the time as a child into my college years but writing took a backseat as I began my career in education then became a wife and mother.  I have been a first grade teacher for over 15+ years now.

2. When did you start writing, and why?
I started writing in 2013.  Why?  Well, here comes the background story:   I had just devoted several months to preparing and then participating in the Avon 2-Day Walk in D.C. with 2 of my closest friends.  It was an incredible event and cause that filled me with a new purpose to my life-a peaceful, happy life as a wife, mother and teacher-a life where I gladly gave what felt like 120% of myself everyday, but now found great joy in paying it forward with another 120% of myself to a great cause.  We completed the walk (raised close to $6,000), my team members then drifted off into new adventures in their lives including a new job and a new home, summer came so school was out, my kids decided they did not need me to plan their summer days and I found myself sitting on the couch for several days feeing like I was in "a state of deflation."  I sat wondering what else can I do?  What were my interest anymore?  My hobbies?  Did I have any other aspirations? Who was I other than a mother, wife and a teacher?  Sadly no answer came Until...two weeks later I woke up from a dream that was very vivid.  I couldn't release that dream from my thoughts.  I had to know what happened to these individuals in my dream especially after the one made such a life altering decision.  Plus, there was such an intense connection between two people that I wanted to know more about.  I found myself at my computer that day and the dream became my first chapter.  The writing just flowed and so did the joy I got from writing it.  Then it was like a huge reminder hit me over the head....Uh, hello?  You love to write.  

3. What do you write, and why? What do you enjoy about what you write?
I write some poetry.  My novel is a paranormal romance because that was revealed to me in my dream.  The fact that I wrote a paranormal romance still even surprises me. I love a good romance and I tend to read anything with a good love story.

But to be honest I had burned through several paranormal romances over a few years and vowed not to read another one because I needed a change.  I switched over to historical romances.  So when I had this dream I actually wanted to argue with myself over the fact that it was paranormal romance.  I tried to even change that aspect, but it is what it is and I am so glad that it remained just that.  I now have fallen back in love with that genre again.  I love developing the character arc with all the small and big details that makes each one of them so real and intriguing.  I also enjoy surprising the reader throughout the whole story.  I am a big fan of a plot driven story with twist and surprise turns.

And Last, I enjoy how wonderful it is to get lost in a world that is nothing like my own except for some smal elements here and there.

---

4. What is your latest book or series? Any forthcoming books?
My debut novel is called Irony of Time. [Kyra sez, is that a gorgeous cover or what?] Here is the summary:

When irony falls upon Miriam… she slams head on into the face of destiny.

Miriam Duvall is followed by a shadow cast over her by irony itself. Feeling reborn and falling in love—all within blissful amnesia—this feisty woman accidentally transcends the rules of time, regaining her memory right at the precipice of the most tragic event in her past. Seizing this opportunity, she looks destiny square in the eye and declares this time around, she’s the one in charge. She proceeds to manipulate the events leading to that fatal accident before it deteriorates the family she dearly loves and hurls her down a guilt-ridden path of self-destruction again.

Her opportunity for redemption knocks in the form of a handsome but mysterious physicist named Dr. Ian Stone. Shrouded in secrets, this man’s whole existence revolves around preventing the moment evil claimed his soul, robbing him of a life worth living. He has spent centuries calculating how to harness an exorbitant amount of energy, wherein making time travel a reality. However, one variable was never factored into his equations: falling in love. His obsession fuels a deep denial, deflecting his true
feelings until his heart wins out at the exact moment he loses Miriam back in time.

Their contrasting worlds cohesively collide and repel during a series of climatic events spiraling around a man harboring a dark secret as he travels back in time to fight for a second chance at love, ironically placing this exceptional woman in a  position where she must choose between a past life she desperately wants or a future with the man she undeniably loves.

Her slap-the-face-of-destiny decisions could deliver her into heartbreaking sadness or possibly set her on a journey of forgiveness that will reset her soul.

It is part of a series, but I'm just not sure what to call the series yet.  The second book is something I call a "parallel novel" to the first one.  It moves through the same time period with the main character, Miriam, but it centers on a very minor character from Irony of Time. They move through the same few weeks interlapping and weaving through each other until my minor character becomes the true focus and releases from the same path of life as Miriam onto her own adventure into a very mysterious world.  I have started the third one too that does the same exact thing, but with a surprising character.

5. "Welcome To My Worlds": Tell us a little about the world of your latest book or series.
It takes place where modern world meets a not of this world character.  The story begins in 2013, but Miriam is transported back in time to 2003.  The settings include the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains to the Carolinas and to Frederick, Maryland.

6. Introduce us to some of your characters. What do you like about them?
Miriam is my heroine.  What I love about her is the arc of her character.  The reader will get to know the many versions of her throughout a ten year period.  You get to see how destroyed emotionally and physically she was and how everything she was suppose to become deterorated.  Then she shows you her light hearted humorous, fiery confident side she has discovered all while living blissfully, away from the pain,  with amnesia and then you get to go travel back in time with her
into her teenage self once again where she now remembers the upcoming family tragedy that was about to destroy them all again and finds this incredible will to try and bend destiny into the life she feels her family should have been given. 

Then there is Ian.  Or Dr. Ian Stone.  I like him because his character will make you debate with yourself over who he is and whether you love or hate him and how that changes every few chapters.  His love for Miriam runs deep, but his secret runs deeper.

7. A fun fact you would like your readers to know about you or your book.
It is the kind of story that has many small Aha! moments that you might not catch the first time through.

Irony of Time is available at:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | CreateSpace
Where to find M.L.:
Website | Goodreads

---