Author Interview with Polly Becks

Author Interviews

September 23, 2015

Author Interview with Polly Becks

Today I’m interviewing Polly Becks, author of romantic suspense “Thursday’s Child: Far to Go”. Welcome to my blog, and thanks for stopping by!

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

Well, I think it may have been in fourth grade. We had a miserable history chapter to study, but our teacher gave us several options about how to present it for a grade. My choice was between writing a paper, taking a test, or performing a play based on the chapter. Two friends and I decided on the play, so I wrote and directed a pretty terrible one called The Clue in the Diary. We were the only ones in class to take a stab at this option, and got a great reception—it was the start of a lifetime of writing, most of which has been the way I’ve made a living. And it got me out of a boring paper and a test.

What inspired you to write Thursday’s Child: Far to Go?

It’s the fifth out of eight books in the Extraordinary Days series. I was inspired to write the series itself because I’ve always enjoyed blending genres, and I thought a good serial romance story would be well-suited in the story of a small town in the Adirondack Mountains, one of the most interesting and beautiful places I’ve ever been. I also thought it might be fun and meaningful for readers of traditional romance and women’s fiction to hear the history of the place, the tale of a “drowned city,” learn a little about important issues and read the story of eight extraordinary women who were all impacted when they were little by a terrible tragedy that happened to their town. Five of those girls were kindergartners, and came to be known as the Five Princesses of Obergrande [a joking reference to a four-hundred-year-old historic tale] or the Fearless Fivesome by the national guardsman who helped rescue them in the first book, NO ORDINARY DAY.

What is your editing process like?

I try to write without editing as I go, but that’s always a struggle, because I am a professional editor as well as a writer and it’s hard not to lose focus on the creative process during the creation of sentences and paragraphs. When I finish a draft, I edit it myself, but send it out at the same time to a team of trusted folks who read behind me. Then I go over it one more time.

Who is your favorite character from your book?

In this particular book, I’m rather fond of Javier, the quiet, former Army ranger and ex-CIA operative who has been hired to help Elisa Santiago go back into Colombia, the nation from which her family fled when she was two years old, to find the brother she never knew she had until recently. Of course, because Elisa is one of the Fearless Fivesome, one of the five kindergarten girls trapped in the flooding school in NO ORDINARY DAY, she automatically counts as a favorite for me, but Javier is different from any hero in the series so far.

Did you set any writing goals for 2015? Did you meet any so far?

I planned to write and release five full-length books in this series this year, and I did meet all those deadlines. I wrote them around other traditionally-published titles, so I was writing constantly this year! I will plan to finish the sixth book in the series, FRIDAY’S CHILD: Loving and Giving, by the end of November, so it can be released in the first week of 2016.

Are you working on something now? If so, can you tell us a little about it?

I am starting a new trilogy that I’ve had under contract for a long time, and I’m working on the sixth book in the Extraordinary Days series. I am also working on a series of children’s books that were published long ago and are about to be re-released in the trade market.

About the Book

Title: Thursday’s Child: Far to Go

Author: Polly Becks

Genre: Romantic Suspense

International attorney and human rights advocate Elisa Santiago believes she has life under control—an impressive career, a solid group of friends in Obergrande, and a handsome law partner for hot “car action” when she needs release. Little does she know that her entire world is about to burn down when she discovers that nothing she believes she knows about herself and her past is true. Can the gorgeous former CIA operative, acting as her guide and guard as she returns to Colombia, the land of her birth, looking for answers, set her world on fire in a good way?

THURSDAY’S CHILD: Far to Go is the fifth book in the eight-book series The Extraordinary Days by breakthrough novelist Polly Becks. The first book, No Ordinary Day, tells the tale of an epic tragedy that changes life forever in a small town in the wild, mystic Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, and the mystery surrounding that tragedy.

Purchases of this book provide a direct cash donation to Children International.

Author Bio

Best-selling author Polly Becks has been making her living writing for more than twenty years, as well as working as an editor, curriculum developer, and teaching secondary-school Spanish. She has more than 350 books to her credit, mostly educational materials, as well as professionally published fiction in both the adult and YA market in a variety of genres, plus more than 30 Children’s books. She is excited about exploring the digital literature frontier and is honored to be the launch series for GMLTJoseph, LLC.

Majanka Verstraete