#WriterWednesday Interview with Mally Becker

I’d like to welcome the fabulous Mally Becker back to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Things you need when you’re in your writing cave: A laptop, coffee, scratch paper for notes, and fuzzy socks.

Things that distract you from writing: Good weather, good music, or an empty coffee cup.

The coolest thing you’ve bought online:

A rowboat-sized sailboat. It was delivered to our house in a box—unassembled.

The thing you wished you’d never bought:

After my husband finished building that small boat-in-a-box in the cellar, we discovered it was too wide too take outside through the basement door.

Favorite snacks: Anything chocolate.

Things that make you want to gag: Calamari.

Something you’re really good at: Baking.

Something you’re really bad at: Softball.

Something you wanted to be when you were a kid: A dancer with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall.

Something you do that you never dreamed you’d do: Write mysteries! My Revolutionary War mysteries are available wherever books are sold, and I’m at work on a new story.

Last best thing you ate: Shrimp with green sauce and yellow rice from the Portuguese restaurant where my husband and I had our first date.

Last thing you regret eating: The (entire) giant chocolate cookie a friend brought me.

Things to say to an author: “I couldn’t go to sleep ‘til I finished your book.”

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “I don’t read fiction. I don’t see the point. I mean, it’s not real, right?”

Favorite places you’ve been: Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, New Mexico, Paris, Lake Placid, N.Y.

Places you never want to go to again: Middle school.

Favorite things to do: Kayak with my husband. Go to Mets games with the whole family. Visit wineries with friends.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: There are books in every room in our house, and I’ve promised to get rid of some. Well, a few. Maybe three. Just not today. Not tomorrow, either.

The funniest thing to happen to you: Being chased up the street by a wild turkey. (Don’t judge. They’re tall and mean!) It was so ridiculous that I burst out laughing as I sprinted away.

The most embarrassing thing to happen to you: Being chased by a wild turkey.

Best piece of advice you received from another writer: Most writers don’t make a ton of money. If you don’t find writing fun, don’t torture yourself. Find another line of work.

Something you would tell a younger you about your writing: Making up stories is even more fun than you imagine, and it’ll lead to some of the best adventures of your life. Enjoy the ride!

Recommendations for curing writer’s block: Writer’s block is my subconscious sending up a warning flag, forcing me to stop when I’ve written myself into a corner but don’t yet realize it. I go for a walk or to a movie, then brainstorm alternatives to find an alternative approach to the scene that’s giving me trouble.

Things you do to avoid writing: I’ve gotten more disciplined with time, but housekeeping chores are a great way to avoid writing.

About Mally:

Mally Becker is a two-time Agatha Award-nominated author of the Revolutionary War Mysteries, which include The Turncoat's Widow, The Counterfeit Wife, and The Paris Mistress. My stories feature Becca Parcell and Daniel Alloway—George Washington's two least likely spies—as they search for traitors in revolutionary-era Morristown, New York City,  Philadelphia, and Paris. I've woven fictionalized versions of real events and people into each story. I hope you enjoy Becca's and Daniel's adventures as much as I liked writing them.

​I was an attorney and volunteer advocate for foster children before becoming a full-time writer. When I'm not writing, you can find me at The Writers Circle Workshops, where I teach mystery writing, on Guns, Knives & Lipstick, the crime fiction Podcast I co-host with three fabulous female mystery writers, or online at the Historical Novel Society, where I interview other authors. I live with my husband in Somerset County, New Jersey, not too far from Morristown, where my first book is set. 

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#WriterWednesday Interview with Mally Becker

I’d like to welcome the fabulous Mally Becker to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

A few of your favorite fall traditions: Baking fruit cobblers and bread once the weather cools off. Dressing up and decorating for Halloween. Rooting for the New York Mets to make the postseason.

Something autumn-related that you’ll never do again: This is the first time in years that we won’t be buying Costco’s 10-pound bag of candy for Halloween. The purchase was just our excuse to have eight pounds of leftover chocolate candy in the house. Time (for us) to grow up!

Favorite fall treat: Warm apple pie a la mode.

A fall treat that makes you gag: Pumpkin spice anything.

Favorite autumn beverage: Apple cider mimosas.

A drink that gives you a sour face: Pumpkin spice coffee.

Best fall memory: Taking our son to college football games when he was young.

Something you’d rather forget: The 10-day power outage following a freak October snow storm here in New Jersey.

A tradition you share with others: We place a scratch-off lottery ticket beneath everyone’s plate at Thanksgiving, then wait ‘til dessert for everyone to try their luck.

A tradition that can be retired: Aiming for perfection at holiday meals! It took me a long time to notice that everyone’s just grateful to be together with or without the “perfect” meal.

Best thing you ever cooked/baked in autumn: Chocolate chip apple cake.

Your worst kitchen disaster: I pulled the Thanksgiving turkey out of the oven and realized that I’d never removed the bag of giblets it came with.

Favorite place you spent a fall day: Paris.

The worst place to spend a fall day: At a football stadium during an icy late-November rainstorm.

Your best Halloween costume: I cut giant sheets of upholstery foam and used spray paint to create a human-sized ham-and-cheese sandwich costume. (Can you tell that Halloween’s my favorite holiday of the year?)

A Halloween costume that wasn’t quite what you imagined: A neighbor walked into a Halloween party wearing a hospital gown to which small cereal boxes had been stapled. A plastic knife stuck out of each small box. I was baffled and asked him about his costume. “I’m a cereal killer,” he said.

Best Halloween costume ever: A neighborhood friend purchased a full-sized gorilla costume for a costume party. He also wore it round the neighborhood that year on his usual morning walk, giving kids waiting for the school bus that day quite a start.

Worst Halloween costume disaster: Nope. We won’t be discussing the year I created a tutu that wouldn’t stay tied around my waist.

Best Halloween memory: My friend’s annual Halloween costume party was scheduled for the night of the October snowstorm I mentioned above. It was snowing, power was out, and trees were down all over the neighborhood. She held the party in the dark for the few of us crazy enough to walk to her house in the storm.

Worst Halloween experience: Traveling for business one year and missing Halloween entirely.

About Mally:

Mally Becker combines her love of history and crime fiction in mysteries that feature strong, independent heroines. Her debut novel, The Turncoat's Widow, was nominated for an Agatha Award in 2022. Kirkus Reviews called it, "A compelling tale ... with charming main characters.” The Turncoat's Widow was also named a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion finalist and a CIBA Mystery & Mayhem finalist.

The Counterfeit Wife, will be published on September 20, 2022 by Level Best Books, and she is at work on the third installment in her Revolutionary War mystery series.

A member of the board of MWA-NY, Mally was an attorney until becoming a full-time writer. She's also an instructor at The Writers Circle Workshops. She and her husband live in New Jersey, where they raised their wonderful son.

She thought she'd be clearing trails when she volunteered at the Morristown National Historical Park but found herself instead assigned to work with the Park's archival collection of letters. That's where she found a copy of an indictment for the Revolutionary War-era crime of traveling from New Jersey to New York City "without permission or passport." That document became the spark for The Turncoat's Widow and her Revolutionary War mystery series.

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Website: The Turncoat's Widow | Mally Becker

#WriterWednesday Interview with Mally Becker

I’d like to welcome author, Mally Becker, to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Things that hamper your writing:

Aiming for perfection. Nothing shuts down my creativity more quickly.

Things you love about writing:

When one of my characters comes to life and says or does something that I didn’t see coming. That’s magic.

Things you hate about writing:

Proofreading, but only because I’m bad at it. By the ump-teenth draft, I don’t even catch spelling errors in my own name.

Favorite foods:

I have the palate of a fifth grader. My favorite foods are still pizza, pigs-in-a-blanket, and Nutella. But never together. I do have standards.

Things that make you want to gag:

Calamari. People love it, but, oh my goodness, I just can’t.

The last thing you ordered online:

An expensive notebook. I can’t resist beautiful paper goods.

The last thing you regret buying:

Umm. The expensive notebook.

Things you always put in your books:

I always include family names in my stories. My nephew’s and brother-in-law’s names are featured in The Turncoat’s Widow. My niece and son’s girlfriend have roles in the next installment in this mystery series.

Things you never put in your books:

You’ll never see cruelty to children or animals in my stories.

Favorite places you’ve been:

The third book in my series will take Becca Parcell and Daniel Alloway to Paris in the years just before the French Revolution. Paris is one of my favorite places, and I’m looking forward to digging into its history. Lake Placid, New York, is my other favorite place in the world. I keep a photo of the view from the top of nearby Mt. Marcy on my dresser.

Favorite books (or genre):

I love reading historical mysteries, especially those by C.J. Sansom, Laurie King, Lyndsay Faye, and Susanna Calkins.

Things that make you happy:

If 2020 taught me anything, it’s to appreciate time with people I love. Hanging out with family and friends makes me happy!

About Mally:

MALLY BECKER became fascinated with the American Revolution when she peeked into the past as a volunteer at the Morristown National Historical Park, where George Washington and the Continental army spent two winters. A former attorney, advocate for foster children, and freelance writer, Mally and her husband raised their son in a town near Morristown, where they still live. The Turncoat’s Widow, featuring Becca Parcell, is her first novel.

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Click here to check out my book on Amazon

www.mallybecker.com

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