Interview with Molly MacRae

What is the title of your newest book? How many books have you published?
The newest is Crewel and Unusual, book six in the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries. It’s my 12th published book. A nice even dozen.

How did you develop your character and choose your location?
The location was easy. We lived in northeast Tennessee for almost 20 years, in Jonesborough and

Molly MacCrae, of course
she plays the bagpipes!

then next door in Johnson City. We loved it there, and intended to stay, but job loss took us to Illinois. Setting the Haunted Yarn Shop books in the fictional town of Blue Plum is my way of going back to a place I miss. Blue Plum is made up of the best parts of all my favorite small towns (in Tennessee and elsewhere).

Kath Rutledge, the protagonist, is someone I wouldn’t mind being more like. That’s part of the fun of writing – it’s a great game of pretend and make-believe. I gave her a grandmother who was a weaver and owned a fiber and fabric shop as a tribute to my own grandmother who had a knitting shop from the mid-1930s until the early ‘50s, and to my mother who was a weaver. Kath has an enhanced version of my own museum background, but otherwise she’s a figment of my imagination.

What do you enjoy about the author’s lifestyle? What do you not enjoy?
I like the process of writing and revising and revising again. I like hearing from readers. I like listening to and talking with other writers. I like that there’s no dress code. I’m not so keen on deadlines, but deadlines are a wonderful problem to have – they mean contracts and getting published. That still amazes me.

Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
Not after myself, really, but I let some of my characters borrow my experiences. In question 2, above, I told you about Kath Rutledge and northeast Tennessee. I also managed a bookstore and lived in Scotland, and in the Highland Bookshop Mysteries you’ll find Janet Marsh, her daughter, and two friends moving from Illinois to the west coast of Scotland after buying a bookshop. Again, that’s my way of going back to a place I love. I’ve occasionally modeled a secondary character after someone I know, but I try to tweak the character enough that the modeling isn’t obvious. More often, I borrow bits and pieces of people I’ve met or encountered – habits, speech patterns, professions, shoes, those kinds of things.

How do you get yourself out of a writing rut?
Sometimes, if I get stuck, I’ll interview the characters to see if there’s anything I didn’t know about them that will help. I’ve also asked a character to write me a letter telling me what’s going on or what happens next. The biggest rut for me usually comes after finishing a book, though. There’s an initial sense of accomplishment after sending in a manuscript, but then there’s a lot of second-guessing, self-doubt, and exhaustion. I try to tell myself that’s okay, but I have trouble believing it. I just turned in the manuscript for the next Highland Bookshop Mystery, and this time I’m going to try working through the down time by writing a short story.

If your books were made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character?
Amy Adams would make a great Kath.

Who is your favorite author?
I have lots of favorites and can’t ever narrow it down to one. Not even a top ten.

If you could invite five people – living or dead – to a dinner party, who would they be?
Jane Goodall, Margaret Mead, Margaret Wise Brown, P.G. Wodehouse, and E.B. White. Ask tomorrow and you’ll get a different answer.

If you could not be an author, what would you like to do as a career?
Ah, I already have the perfect backup job – children’s librarian. Although, if I weren’t writing, I’d take the time to get the actual MLS degree so that I’d be an official, card-carrying, bona fide librarian.