Today’s guest author is the lovely Marilyn Barr, writer of steamy, suspenseful paranormal romance, and tremendous supporter of her fellow authors. Smoother than Spumoni, part of the Wild Rose Press’s One Scoop or Two series, is a spin-off from Marilyn’s Strawberry Shifters series, set in Strawberry, Kentucky. All the One Scoop or Two books involve ice cream and a beach setting, perfect for the dog days of summer!
Now, I’ve read quite a few shifter romances, but this was my first encounter with dolphin shifters, and it was a delight! I especially loved how she described the heroine’s experiences as a dolphin swimming in the sea. Take it away, Marilyn.
SMOOTHER THAN SPUMONI – She lured him into the ocean unaware of the dangers lurking beneath the waves…
Susie Larkin is a dolphin shifter and heir to the humble Larkin’s Dairy Dip on Seagrass Island, FL. Pedaling ice cream from bicycle carts on the beach is just a stepping-stone for this future CEO of a frozen confection empire—or so she hopes.
Frank Paulino Jr. receives his first taste of freedom from Strawberry, KY in a summer internship at Bart’s Oyster bar. His pasta creations save the restaurant when red tide poisons the fresh fish of the bay, making him the most popular werewolf on Seagrass island.
Frank and Susie uncover a conspiracy that threatens not only the wildlife of the area but also their lives. Can these two shifters put their ambitions aside long enough to give their relationship a chance, or will Frank pay the ultimate price to protect Susie and the island she loves?
Excerpt
They move quickly, efficiently, and silently, only stopping to check over their shoulders every few minutes. When the exchange is complete, the truck starts again. Even though it is dark, without headlights they navigate unerringly through the native swamp.
“That was weird. You thought it was weird right?”
“Yeah, I want to know what is in those barrels.”
“Let’s leave it alone. We have been gone for months and have no idea how this area has changed. Let’s go home and ask our parents or Wilson.”
“Why? When one look at the label will answer all our questions? Besides, the truck has already left.”
“They could return.”
“As shady as they were acting, they aren’t coming back. Come on—”
“No way, Susie Q. We are going home.” Her voice shakes as she lays down her ultimatum. She can’t abandon me here in case I succumb to Red Tide on the swim home. However, tears have already started rolling down her cheeks. My bestie is terrified.
“You are right. Let’s go ask,” I say calmly. Why upset her more when I can bring a braver companion tomorrow? Surely a demon-slaying werewolf won’t be scared of a few barrels?
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Marilyn Barr currently resides in the wilds of Kentucky with her husband, son, and rescue cats. She has a diverse background containing experiences as a child prodigy turned medical school reject, published microbiologist, special education/inclusion science teacher, homeschool mother of a savant, certified spiritual/energy healer, and advocate for the autistic community. This puts her in the position to bring tales containing heroes who are regular people with different ability levels and body types, in a light where they are powerful, lovable, and appreciated.
When engaging with the real world, she is collecting characters, empty coffee cups, and unused homeschool curricula. She is a sucker (haha) for cheesy horror movies, Italian food, punk music, black cats, bad puns, and all things witchy.
A few questions for the author:
Tell us about your inspiration for this story.
Due to his illnesses, my son has never been to school, and I often worry about whether he will find his place in the world without the “school-to-job” pipeline. The homeschooled children in the Strawberry Shifters book series are my way of playing out different scenarios for my son’s future. Frank Paulino Jr. is the first to reach adulthood in the isolated existence of a rural Kentucky resident. Besides weekend excursions to the nearest city of Louisville, Frank has never left his small town. Each day he works in his family’s pizzeria, takes care of his five younger brothers, and lives in the shadow of his deceased father’s legacy.
With so many responsibilities (and very little fun), I wanted to give him a summer internship where he could play on the beach. How would he adjust to being able to dictate his schedule without the demands of his family? Would he freeze due to culture shock on the beaches of Florida? Would he have the social skills to make friends and ultimately find his perfect match? These are all questions swirling in my mom-brain as if it were my son going on his first trip alone.
What do you love about the genre you write in?
I love paranormal romance because I can use the magical aspects to question our inner nature. My day job is as an energetic healer, and I often talk to my clients about their “shadow self”. Your shadow self is the part of you that you keep hidden from your public persona but is a defining force behind your behavior. In shifter romance, I can exaggerate this and create a monster living inside each of my characters to allow the reader to examine human nature in a safe space. In the Strawberry Shifters, there is an indigenous parasite which brings out the ability to physically shift into the animal living in the victim’s personality. In Bear with Me, Grant’s grizzly bear is a manifestation of his need to have control, surly disposition, and ultimate role of protector of his territory. In contrast, Frank in Smoother Than Spumoni, is a werewolf who will struggle with boundaries, and doing what he wants if it isn’t aligned with his family’s desires.
What’s your favorite part of the writing life?
I love world building. From the layout of Seagrass Island and TTH (treeless treehouse) to Wilson’s aquatic pack meeting, I love transporting my readers somewhere else. I grew up reading Ray Bradbury, Madeline L’Engle, and Terry Pratchett. The details in their books all the way to the unique eating utensils made their stories come alive. I have reread their books to discover new layers of meaning. Societal commentary, character arcs, puns, and inside jokes, live within the stories which I cannot process while enjoying the plot for the first time. It is my goal to provide a book my readers can read more than once due to layers of world building.
What do you do for fun when you’re not writing?
I’m a gardener and herbalist whose neighbors call the village witch. Combining my chemical engineering degree with my family’s recipes, I love to blend old world wisdom with modern technology. Due to allergies in my household, I make all my own cleaning solutions, hygiene solutions, and make all food from scratch. Yes, I grind my own flours like a medieval peasant.
Every Wednesday on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/marilyn_barr_author/) I share my herbalist expertise in Alison’s Witchy tips (from the POV of my #ownvoices character). I’d love to invite you to my weird corner of Instagram where I give herbal remedies, provide bookstagram reviews of my favorite romances, conduct moon rituals while trying not to light my house on fire, tell stories of my hilarious witch fails, and share my expertise as an energetic and herbal healer. Have you ever wondered how the first people to stumble across fennel decided to eat it (thought the fringe was a cure for baldness)? What to do with your carved pumpkins after Halloween (best wrinkle cream ever)?
What does your writing space look like?
I write at my kitchen table from 5 am to 10 am. I am not a morning person, but these are the only hours I am not on-call as ‘mom, mom, mom, mooooom’. My house is loud from the time my son gets up until he goes to bed, so while I’m not a morning person, these hours are best for writing. My husband teases me that I write about vampires because I am my most creative in the dark.
Do you have any particular writing quirks? A special object, snack, music, etc. that helps you with your writing process?
When I get stuck inside a story or the motivation to finish it wanes, I dress up as the character like a method actor. When revising Strawberry shifters Book 3: Go Scorch Yourself (coming late February of 2022), I dyed my hair black like main character, Bad Girl Betty’s hair. I picked up and set aside Book 4: Rotten Apple so many times that I got lost in the plot. When I finished it, I had 276,000 words for an 80,000-word book. I didn’t want to tackle the massive revisions, so I gave myself presents for milestones to go deeper into the Orchid the Fae Princess’s POV. When it was cut to 200,000 words, I got a fairy crown. Fairy wings were my present when it was reduced to 150,000 words. I wore these presents to power my way through cutting repetitive scenes where I lost my way.
Any advice for aspiring writers?
The days of the writer hiding in a cabin in the woods who no one ever personally interacts with are over. You must build a community around your brand, and I suggest starting to build it before your first book is submitted for publication. Having other authors in your genre for newsletter swaps, review praise, cross promotions, Facebook party hosting, and anthology book invites are crucial. I love the app “Clubhouse” for exchanging marketing ideas with other authors as well as the Kentuckiana Romance Writers for support.
I love being a part of cooperative blog where many authors write on one topic (most likely your book’s genre) and share followers. It delays the question that every author hates – when is your next book coming out and what is taking so long? One author’s shifter fans may buy your vampire book and vice versa. As a writer, I write five books per year. As a reader, I read six books a month.
You also want to think outside of your profession. Does your town have a vendor’s market for artists to host your book signings? Since I write paranormal romance, I love selling books at the farmer’s markets around Halloween while dressed as a witch. What about wineries, breweries, or distilleries who would host your book launch party for the social media exposure while giving you exposure too? I love partnering with local bakeries around book fairs to offer custom “Strawberry Shifters Cookies” with the purchase of one of my books. I think my fans love it too.
Which authors have inspired you?
My favorite author is Lora Leigh. Every element to her stories seems to be lifted a notch above the other books in the shifter genre, from the sentence structure and the vocabulary, to story arcs. Her books are brain candy that I usually devour in a single day. I can only hope that someday my Strawberry Shifters reach the caliber of her Breeds books.
I was lucky enough to meet her in a crucial crossroad in my career. I had sent a few query letters to agents and thought you had to wait until they replied to send out another round. I had no idea other authors were sending out over one hundred letters at once. I hadn’t heard back from my two agents after a few months and was discouraged. Surely, I deserved a rejection at least (Almost two years later and still no rejections)! I met Lora Leigh at an author-to-reader event while wearing a shirt saying I was looking for an agent. She told me her story of starting out at a small press and enjoying an author career. I queried The Wild Rose Press that night and have been publishing with them ever since.
Marilyn Barr with Lora Leigh
Best of luck with your new book, Marilyn!
Again, get your copy of Smoother than Spumoni here:
Enjoyed the post. Isn’t it great to get to meet a favorite author 🙂 Luck with you latest story.
Thank you! I’m lucky enough to have met her.
Wonderful, go Marilyn! We just visited Florida and got up close and personal with some dolphins!
I love Florida but I’m terrified of the dolphins. I have met them in the wild (on accident) in Tampa Bay and wrote about them to calm my fears.
Thank you, Sadira for hosting me and my aquatic shifters!