Welcome to the 2024 ARIA Author Showcase and Giveaway Event! 

  

  

How to enter – Comment on the daily showcases to enter the daily giveaway. Comments close four days after the initial Showcase post. GRAND PRIZE drawn on Dec 5th (1 -$250, 1 -$100, or a 1 -$50 Amazon gift card. One grand prize pp) – For every showcase you post on, you automatically gain one entry to the grand prize. 30 Authors = 30 entries.    

Martha Reynolds will be at the Rhode Island Author Expo.

On to the Showcase! 

 

What name do you like to write under? Martha Reynolds

Where do you call home? Right in the middle of Rhode Island!

What genre(s) do you write? Women’s fiction, literary fiction

What genre(s) were you drawn to when you were younger? Was there a reason that genre(s) appealed to you the most? 

As a very young girl, I loved fairy tales - Rapunzel, Cinderella - then grew into mysteries starring Nancy Drew or The Bobbsey Twins. Teenage me devoured whatever was popular at the time, and I enjoyed biographies, too. I read The Exorcist even though my parents told me not to (I was 13) and I’d never been so scared.

What were some of your favorite books growing up? Why?  

The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (the relationship between young Jody and the fawn he adopted is truly magical). 

The Winds of War by Herman Wouk got me hooked on WWII books both fiction and nonfiction.

Go Ask Alice might have been one of the most pivotal books I read as a young teenager. YA fiction that reads like a true story in diary form, it’s about a 15-year-old who is a runaway and drug addict - just the thing for a 13-year-old such as myself in 1971.

What are some of your favorite books today?

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, Americana by Chimamansa Ngozi Adichie, The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

What inspired you to become a writer? 

I had all these stories in my head. I wrote them down and thought a couple of people might want to read them.

 

I Wish I Had a River

Pediatrician Anna Drury has been contentedly married to her husband Nick for three years when he receives a terminal diagnosis. In the two weeks before the fatal illness claims his life Nick makes three urgent requests that Anna is determined to honor. She takes a year long leave from her practice and travels to Portugal, Spain, Italy, and finally France. Throughout her journey, Anna discovers secrets about her husband and his family that are troubling. Her healing depends on reconciling her husband‘s flaws and finding her own balance. For fans of Eat, Pray, love this novel will take the reader on a four country journey of self-awareness and ultimate forgiveness.

Tell us a little about how  “I Wish I Had a River” came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma or something else? 

I dreamt about this plot line. For nights on end, I’d be able to see this entire novel in my head. All of it. I never feared that I’d forget it because it was etched into my mind.

Which scene, character or plotline changed the most from first draft to published book? 

I think it was point of view. Originally I had the character of Anna interacting with a friend, but decided that the story was best told from Anna’s point of view.

Which character was the most challenging to create. Why? 

In this case, I think it was Anna’s husband Nick. His presence is felt all through the book, even if he isn’t there.

What do you like best about being a writer? 

The freedom to create. As a self-published author, I control my timeline, and have final say over my covers, my characters, and my stories.

If you could collaborate with any author past or present, who would it be? What would the title of the book be? (If possible) - Give us a one sentence blurb.  

Oh, let me write with F. Scott Fitzgerald. I’d probably drink too much. We’d write a novel titled Again, Zelda. - As the love of his life recedes from his grasp, Fitzgerald asks himself the hardest questions.

 

You can follow Martha Reynolds here - 

Website - www.MarthaReynoldsWrites.com 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/marthareynoldswrites/ 

 

Martha Reynolds is giving away a copy of her latest novel, I Wish I Had a River (paperback or Kindle, winner’s choice).

 

To enter, comment below →  If granted a month to escape the ordinary to rest, reflect, and read, which earthly destination would you set your sights on?

(Comments are open for 4 days)