QUEST OF THE HART: An Interview with Mary Waibel

by | May 9, 2013 | interview | 16 comments


Mary Waibel, one of my wonderful beta read partners, is here today talking about her debut novel, QUEST OF THE HART – a reverse Sleeping Beauty tale in which a princess must rescue her sleeping prince.
1.  Can you tell us about your path to publication? 
Like many, I wrote a book, polished it up, and queried waaay to soon. Not to be deterred, I wrote another. This one I spent more time on, refined it, really researched the agents and sent it out. I had several requests for fulls, but no bites. Deep down, I knew there was something off in the story, but couldn’t say what. (It’s still in my pile to go back to and fix.) So, I went back to my first book and did a total rewrite. The final product is alike only in character names and the idea of a princess rescuing a prince. This time, when I queried, I included some small publishing houses in the mix. I got requests for fulls from two. And then I waited. And waited. And waited. When the offer from Muse came, I was one week away from going out on my own and self-publishing. I’d researched it a lot while waiting. Quest of the Hart released with them on April 19th, and Charmed Memories, a companion novel, will release in August.
2. What is your writing process like?
Are you a pantster, plotter, or something in between? I’m pretty much a panster. I’ll have an idea or a character come to mind, and I’ll spend time thinking about what I want to happen. I mull it over while I’m driving, in the shower, doing laundry (can’t tell you how many great ideas I get swapping clothes from the washer to the dryer!), and as I’m drifting off to sleep. I’ve learned at night to think in big picture things, not specifics of dialogue, as I can’t remember it, and if I’m trying to go to sleep, I don’t want to jot it down in a notebook. When I’ve thought of enough to get somewhere in my story, I write a first draft. These are always short and bare bones on description. I spend a lot of time going back and fleshing out my scenes once I have a frame of sorts. And yes, my drafts can change so much from one to the next that it seems like a completely different story.
3. Which character in QUEST OF THE HART was most fun to write about?
Did any of them surprise you? I had the most fun writing Arabella, the villainess. I’d never written from the POV of the bad guy before, and it was fun to see where I could go with her. The two sisters, Maeryn and Deirdre, surprised me. They had a bit more backbone than I anticipated when I started out with them.
4. What part of the story challenged you the most? 
How to show Kaylee falling in love with a prince she barely knew who the reader barely gets to see, as he’s under a sleep spell for most of the story.
(That IS tricky, and now I’m wondering how Mary pulled it off. She doesn’t say, and I guess there’s only one way to find out …)
5. What else would you like to tell us about QUEST OF THE HART or your next book, CHARMED MEMORIES?
Quest of the Hart is a reverse sleeping beauty, where the princess goes on the quest to save the prince. It’s told from two points of view, the heroine and the villainess, and is available from MuseItUp Publishing.
Charmed Memories follows Kaylee’s brother Trevor. After learning the girl he loves might be the missing princess he’s to marry, Trevor vows to recover her memories and prove she belongs with him.  It will release in August from MuseItUp Publishing

16 Comments

  1. Mary Waibel
    Mary Waibel on May 9, 2013 at 10:54 am

    Thank you so much for hosting me today, Dianne. I really enjoyed answering your questions!

  2. Linda G.
    Linda G. on May 9, 2013 at 11:03 am

    Oooh, QUEST OF THE HART sounds really good! I love fairy tales, and reversing the sleeping beauty tale sounds intriguing.

  3. Christina Lee
    Christina Lee on May 9, 2013 at 11:38 am

    Hi Mary! I love that the tale is in reverse!!

  4. Mary Waibel
    Mary Waibel on May 9, 2013 at 12:15 pm

    Thanks, Linda and Christina!

  5. Julie Dao
    Julie Dao on May 9, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    This book sounds fantastic! I LOVE the premise. Kick-butt princesses are the best!

  7. mshatch
    mshatch on May 9, 2013 at 4:21 pm

    Great interview Dianne and Mary 🙂

  9. Susan Flett Swiderski
    Susan Flett Swiderski on May 10, 2013 at 4:02 am

    Sounds like a fun book! And I can imagine how much fun it would be to write from the POV of a bad guy.

  10. Lexa Cain
    Lexa Cain on May 10, 2013 at 11:22 am

    Congrats on your publishing adventure and finding MuseItUp. I love the cover they gave you, and I’m thrilled for you that there’s a sequel in the works. Yay! 🙂

  11. Mary Waibel
    Mary Waibel on May 10, 2013 at 11:50 am

    Thanks, Susan. My bad girl was a lot of fun to write. Now she’s begging for a redemption tale, so somehow I’ll have to figure out how to accomplish that without making her too weak.

    Thanks, Lexa. I love being with Muse. They have a very talented staff. I couldn’t have picked a better cover than Charlie designed for me. Not only is there one sequel in the works, but I have a third I am readying for submission, and the redemption tale I mentioned I need to write.

  12. Joanne R. Fritz
    Joanne R. Fritz on May 10, 2013 at 6:17 pm

    This sounds so cool! Is it only an ebook at this point? Darn.

    I agree with Dianne — showing Kaylee falling in love with a prince the reader hardly gets to see would be difficult. Flashbacks?? I know, I know, I have to read it to find out…

    Congrats, Mary!

  13. Mary Waibel
    Mary Waibel on May 10, 2013 at 6:22 pm

    Thanks, Joanne. And sorry, e-book only at this time.

    And my lips are sealed on how I showed them falling in love 🙂

  14. DL Hammons
    DL Hammons on May 11, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    I’ll never be able to understand you Pantsers! 🙂

  15. TerryLynnJohnson
    TerryLynnJohnson on May 12, 2013 at 12:59 pm

    sounds like a great, fun premise! Congrats to Mary!

  16. Mary Waibel
    Mary Waibel on May 12, 2013 at 2:02 pm

    DL- LOL!

    Thanks, Terry!