I was recently on the blog tour for MM Chouinard's latest book release What they saw and I even joined her Street team! I am excited to help promote her future releases!
About MM Chouinard
My first fiction story was published in my local paper when I was eight, and I fell in love with Agatha Christie novels not long after. The stories kept rattling around my skull while I pursued a PhD in psychology and while I helped to found the first US research university of the new millennium, University of California, Merced. For sanity’s sake, I finally decided to release them.
When I’m not writing, I’m probably unleashing the visual side of my creativity: I love nail art and all types of paper crafts. Or, I might be working on my family genealogy; I recently managed to document one of my ancestral lines back to Charlemagne (a lineage that may or may not explain my passionate relationship with French cheeses—okay, with all cheese). I also love coffee, chocolate, bullet journaling, tarot cards, anything to do with Halloween or zombie apocalypses, and small doses of tomfoolery and shenanigans.
No matter what I’m doing, you’ll find me surrounded by my three cats and my dog—and my husband, who, in addition to being my biggest fan, technically keeps me from being a crazy cat lady.
How did you get started with writing books?
I’ve been a writer as long as I can remember, but put fiction writing aside for my academic career. But when I started researching my family genealogy and uncovering my ancestors and relatives, I stumbled on a number of interesting stories that had unanswered questions, and they got me thinking. For example, I’m related to a Quebecois figure called La Corriveau, who killed her two husbands. I was curious about why she did that—so I decided to write my own story about a character like her and came up with my own backstory and motivations for the killings. That got me started writing my first book—which sits unpublished on my virtual shelf to this day. But it gave me the courage and confidence to then try my hand at something I’d wanted to do since I was a child—write a mystery novel.
Would you and your main character get along? And why or why not?
I think we would. Jo is many things that I admire and wish I were (or wish I was more like). Her empathy, her ability to read people, her ability to handle difficult situations with seeming ease, all of those are qualities I’m drawn to in people. Same with her sense of humor, and her desire to always become a better version of herself.
If your book were made into a movie, which actors would play your characters?
I’ve thought about this a lot for the first book in my series, The Dancing Girls. For the main characters, I’d cast Evangeline Lilly as Jo, and my current favorite for Bob Arnett is David Zayas. I’d cast Tobey Maguire as Martin, and Rachel Weiss as Diana.
What is your favorite childhood book?
Rupert the Rhinoceros. It tells the story of a rhinoceros who everyone thought was mean because he charged at people, but it turned out he only did that because he couldn’t see well, and he was scared of all the blurry blobs coming toward him. After a kind man figured it out and got him a pair of glasses, he was sweet and loved everybody. I think there are a lot of really good life lessons in there.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
This is a hard question for me to answer, because there are things I love about every stage. But one thing I don’t look forward to is writing scenes where parents are told that their children are dead. That’s a space I really don’t enjoy tapping into.
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
Scrivener software, hands down. I can’t even imagine writing without it.
What other books have you had published?
There are now six books in the Jo Fournier series: The Dancing Girls, Taken to the Grave, Her Daughter’s Cry, The Other Mothers, Her Silent Prayer, and now What They Saw. I’ve also published a standalone psychological thriller, The Vacation.
How do you celebrate when you finish your book?
That varies from book to book, and draft to draft. Most recently I finished the first draft of the seventh Jo Fournier book, and celebrated by baking and decorating a huge batch of Halloween cookies.
Do you have a go-to first reader when you feel your manuscript is finished?
For my Jo Fournier books, which are under contract, my go-to first reader is my editor She gives me amazing advice about what is working and what isn’t, and I go back and fix what isn’t. For other books I write, they go to my agent. I also have several beta readers that I count on, too.
Do you have a message for your readers?
Yes—a huge thank you to them reading books. It still amazes me that people actually want to read what I write, and I’m so, so grateful!
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
TikTok
M.
Thank you so much for a great interview!
About MM Chouinard
My first fiction story was published in my local paper when I was eight, and I fell in love with Agatha Christie novels not long after. The stories kept rattling around my skull while I pursued a PhD in psychology and while I helped to found the first US research university of the new millennium, University of California, Merced. For sanity’s sake, I finally decided to release them.
When I’m not writing, I’m probably unleashing the visual side of my creativity: I love nail art and all types of paper crafts. Or, I might be working on my family genealogy; I recently managed to document one of my ancestral lines back to Charlemagne (a lineage that may or may not explain my passionate relationship with French cheeses—okay, with all cheese). I also love coffee, chocolate, bullet journaling, tarot cards, anything to do with Halloween or zombie apocalypses, and small doses of tomfoolery and shenanigans.
No matter what I’m doing, you’ll find me surrounded by my three cats and my dog—and my husband, who, in addition to being my biggest fan, technically keeps me from being a crazy cat lady.
I’ve been a writer as long as I can remember, but put fiction writing aside for my academic career. But when I started researching my family genealogy and uncovering my ancestors and relatives, I stumbled on a number of interesting stories that had unanswered questions, and they got me thinking. For example, I’m related to a Quebecois figure called La Corriveau, who killed her two husbands. I was curious about why she did that—so I decided to write my own story about a character like her and came up with my own backstory and motivations for the killings. That got me started writing my first book—which sits unpublished on my virtual shelf to this day. But it gave me the courage and confidence to then try my hand at something I’d wanted to do since I was a child—write a mystery novel.
Would you and your main character get along? And why or why not?
I think we would. Jo is many things that I admire and wish I were (or wish I was more like). Her empathy, her ability to read people, her ability to handle difficult situations with seeming ease, all of those are qualities I’m drawn to in people. Same with her sense of humor, and her desire to always become a better version of herself.
If your book were made into a movie, which actors would play your characters?
I’ve thought about this a lot for the first book in my series, The Dancing Girls. For the main characters, I’d cast Evangeline Lilly as Jo, and my current favorite for Bob Arnett is David Zayas. I’d cast Tobey Maguire as Martin, and Rachel Weiss as Diana.
What is your favorite childhood book?
Rupert the Rhinoceros. It tells the story of a rhinoceros who everyone thought was mean because he charged at people, but it turned out he only did that because he couldn’t see well, and he was scared of all the blurry blobs coming toward him. After a kind man figured it out and got him a pair of glasses, he was sweet and loved everybody. I think there are a lot of really good life lessons in there.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
This is a hard question for me to answer, because there are things I love about every stage. But one thing I don’t look forward to is writing scenes where parents are told that their children are dead. That’s a space I really don’t enjoy tapping into.
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
Scrivener software, hands down. I can’t even imagine writing without it.
What other books have you had published?
There are now six books in the Jo Fournier series: The Dancing Girls, Taken to the Grave, Her Daughter’s Cry, The Other Mothers, Her Silent Prayer, and now What They Saw. I’ve also published a standalone psychological thriller, The Vacation.
How do you celebrate when you finish your book?
That varies from book to book, and draft to draft. Most recently I finished the first draft of the seventh Jo Fournier book, and celebrated by baking and decorating a huge batch of Halloween cookies.
Do you have a go-to first reader when you feel your manuscript is finished?
For my Jo Fournier books, which are under contract, my go-to first reader is my editor She gives me amazing advice about what is working and what isn’t, and I go back and fix what isn’t. For other books I write, they go to my agent. I also have several beta readers that I count on, too.
Do you have a message for your readers?
Yes—a huge thank you to them reading books. It still amazes me that people actually want to read what I write, and I’m so, so grateful!
Website
TikTok
M.
Thank you so much for a great interview!
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