15 April 2016

Author Q&A Session #62: With Constance McKee



Hello and welcome readers,
Hope y'all are having an amazing day/night. For me, the heat is sucking put all energy from me, and trying to stay under the comfort of AC as much as possible and drinking loads of water.
Enough about my boring life.

Today in an all new author interview session, we have a debut author, Constance McKee, who is also a former psychiatrist. And she is here to talk about her book, The Girl in the Mirror, along with other exciting stuffs about her life and career.

So stay tuned and keep reading.


Read the review of The Girl in the Mirror




Me: Hello and welcome to my blog, Connie. Congratulations on your new book, The Girl in the Mirror. How will you express your feelings about this book that has already won the hearts of so many readers?

Connie: This is a book that I hope will intrigue people and make them think about: the possibility of other dimensions; what could await us after death, other than what traditional religions tell us; our perceptions and whether they’re real or whether they’re the products of our minds.


Me: How did you research for your book? Can you tell us briefly about it?


Connie: My research included reading many books and searching online about near-death experiences and about current beliefs by physicists on the mathematical possibility—or even probability—that other dimensions exist. The idea for this book was actually triggered by my watching an episode of a show called “Nova” on U.S. public television. The show was about alternate dimensions, and it intrigued me so much that I wanted to explore the topic in a novel. 


Me: Tell us one trait about your character, Dr. Jodi that intrigues you the most.


Connie: What I hoped to convey to readers is that even a woman like Jodi, who is well-educated in the mental health field and who helps others, can have difficulty helping herself. She is, until later in the book, blind to her own needs, and the reality of her beliefs remains unclear.


Me: How will you describe your journey so far as an author?

Connie: My journey as an author has been a thrill. I’m still in shock that I’ve gotten a book published, and as a result of that book, I get to interact with wonderful people from all over the world.


Me: Was it always your one true dream to be an author?

Connie: I think it was, only I didn’t realize it was my dream until I got older. I loved writing when I was a child and won my first writing contest when I was 10 years old. After that, I headed toward the sciences by studying biology, medicine and psychiatry. Although the medical field took me away from writing fiction, it gave me lots of stories. I finally woke up and realized I could combine my medical knowledge and my early love of writing to capture those stories in fiction.


Me: What other passions do you have apart from writing?

Connie: First on my list is spending time with my family and friends. I’m fortunate to have many people whom I love.
I love to run. I’m not fast, but it makes me feel good mentally and physically, and I love to participate in races with the track club here in Atlanta.
I also love to read, and I’m very thankful for bloggers like you, Aditi, who help me and others find great books to enjoy.


Me: What's next up on your writing sleeves? Please tell us briefly about it.

Connie: I’m in the process of writing my next novel, again featuring a female psychiatrist as the protagonist. It takes place in a state hospital for the criminally insane, where the protagonist must investigate several mysterious deaths. It might have a supernatural element, but I’m uncertain about that right now.


Me: Thanks Connie for joining me today on this interview session. I wish you luck for all your future endeavors.

Connie: You’re welcome, Aditi. It’s been a pleasure for me. Thank you very much for inviting me.
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Constance's Bio:


Connie was in private practice in psychiatry for many years before becoming a forensic psychiatrist, working with the criminally insane. The work was fascinating, but also stressful, so she decided it was time for a change. She'd heard amazing stories from her patients--truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction--so she decided to try to put those stories, and her feelings about them, into words (while carefully protecting identities). When she realized that writing wasn't as easy as she thought, she enrolled in the Stonecoast program at the University of Southern Maine, where she received a MFA in creative writing. In addition to this novel, she has written short stories: one of which was given an award by the Atlanta Writers Club, and another appeared in the online literary magazine "The Perch," which is connected to Yale University.
Connie grew up in coastal Alabama, has lived in both Eastern and Western states, and now resides with her husband in the Atlanta area. When not writing, she enjoys reading, running, and spending time with family and friends.


Connect with Constance on: Website Facebook Twitter



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