But I Smile Anyway…

I’m back with a second edition!

Today, I am thrilled to welcome an old blogging and writing friend who I have met in person. None other than the lovely Marjorie Mallon, one of my blogging sisters! She’s got an awesome poetry collection out TODAY, entitled Do What You Love.

Hello, and welcome to But I Smile Anyway again, Marje! First things first. What would you like to drink?

We have all the usuals, tea, coffee, masala chai, fancy coffee from the Nespresso machine, or green tea if you’d prefer. Lil Princess has been busy baking cookies for us, too!

Ah, I’ve put a bit of weight on recently, Ritu, so I better say green tea, but I’d love a cookie! Thanks, Lil Princess. 🙂

So, firstly, let’s set the scene. You recently left British shores and have moved abroad to Portugal. What a brave move! Tell us about it. How has it changed life for you since you are also a mother? And are you able to be more creative out there now?

Thank you so much, Ritu, for inviting me over to chat about my new book and for taking the time to read and review it. I appreciate it so much. We’re still swamped in the bureaucratic post covid process, Ritu.

Even though things are starting to move! At the moment, I’m spending over half of the year in the UK, mostly in Edinburgh and the rest in Portugal. As I have elderly parents and my daughters are both based in the UK, I see this time as a precious gift to be with them. I miss my daughters, family and friends in the UK.

But… we have had a lot of visitors! In truth, I find it more difficult to focus on writing here as there are so many distractions! I have to be disciplined and find the time! Yesterday (after a late night and a rock concert,) I began writing this interview on the train travelling from Faro back to Tavira.

You haven’t pigeonholed yourself as a writer, have you? YA fantasy fiction, and all sorts of poetry and cross-over poetic fiction books. What is your favourite type of creative writing?

No, I haven’t. I would try anything… I might even attempt to write a crime and/or romance novel one day. My favourite kind of writing is… perhaps poetry and short fiction as I find it the easiest to write. I love writing full-length novels too, but they are much more challenging, frustrating and time-consuming.

I’ve been wondering, how is your 2nd book progressing Ritu… Can’t wait to read it.

Currently, it is sitting with my editors at my publisher! So, not long. June 2023 is the pencilled-in publication date! Oh, they do take forever to write, don’t they, especially when you are working full time, too!

You know I’m a nosy soul. Where do you like to write?  Is it a very different setup for you now you have moved?

Yes! We have downsized from a 5-bed family home with a large garden to a one-bed rented flat with a tiny balcony and no garden. I must be mad! I mainly write in said flat in Tavira – in the kitchen! My hubby bought me a nice table and chairs with a pretty view of the fields and trees nearby  I used to have an office in our old house, but we are only renting at the moment, so I am making do! I am flexible that way… as long as I have a laptop, power and wifi, I am ready to go.

What about you Ritu where do you write?

I have my little reading and writing room. I loathed to call it an office because it then seems like work rather than the pleasure I find creating stories!

We’ve been friends for a LONG time now. And we’ve had the pleasure of meeting each other in person at the ABBA’s. (Remember them? I miss those opportunities to catch up with my blogily!) How do you feel your blogging career has evolved over the years?

Yes, we have been friends for a LONG time, and I value your dear friendship so much, Ritu. I miss those events and your lovely in-person company! I must admit to having downsized my blogging activity. I miss it, but something had to give! I focus mainly on writing reviews now, doing blog tours etc., which I love doing. I’ve started a bookstagram account mainly for this purpose:  https://www.instagram.com/mjm_reviews/

Who knows where my future writing/blogging may take me.

I would love to write more about my travels…as I am a keen photographer. I’ve started drafting a story set in Tavira, so we shall see…it started off as a romantic idea but seems to be veering in another direction. So me!

You must find it so hard to find time Ritu with your work commitments… How do you manage? Oddly I find it even harder now I am retired from my day job. The opposite to what I expected!

I’m not actually sure how I manage, Marje! But, I feel that if you really want to do something, you will find the time for it, so that is how I manage. I don’t watch an awful lot of TV, so my spare time is all reading and writing and adding my regular posts to my blog!

I have been honoured to read most of your work as working copies, or arcs, over the years. What has been your favourite project so far?

You are a star and such a huge supporter of all my work! It’s a pleasure to read and an honour to be trusted with someone’s creativity!

I love your writing too and can’t wait to read more of The Rishtay series!  (Blushing…) Thank you.

My favourite project… a difficult one to answer as I love them all.

Overall, it has to be my debut novel Bloodstone, in The Curse of Time series, as it was my first writing project, the 1st novel I’d ever written and published. It kickstarted it all, and I am very proud of all the positive and diverse reviews it has received. It now has 84 reviews on Goodreads… and counting, with an overall rating of 4.14.

Also, I met the inventor of the Corpus Christi Clock (one of the inspirations for the series,) Dr John C Taylor, and went out for lunch and a stroll with him, which was a huge highlight of my life.  And Bloodstone is now available in audiobook which I love. We are currently working on the audiobook of book 2, Golden Healer. So excited about this!

I’ve just literally finished reading Do What You Love, your latest poetry collection with an eclectic mix of writing, where you revisit key moments in life and talk them through via the mediums of fictional conversations with the Three Sisters of Fate. Tell us how this idea came about.

I had a conversation with the sisters of fate, and they said to write this! Only joking. Like all of my writing projects, it evolved rather than was planned. It showcases poetry, prose and photographic images about my favourite places to live, emotional memories, happy times, amusing moments, and imagined discussions with the 3 three sisters of fate over a wide period of time. I suppose it is me having a soul-searching chat with myself about how my life is about to change and how perhaps I have to come to terms with that. Moving abroad is much more difficult than I first anticipated. I tend to jump and think later…

Since we’re sitting here with our drinks and cookies, and your book is about reminiscences, can you tell us a bit about a favourite food or snack and the memories it evokes?

My favourite food or snack has to be my mum’s beef rendang (Malaysian curry) or her Chinese duck, or sweet and sour pork – truly scrumptious, and her snacks…meat sate sticks, dim sum, homemade spring rolls.

My mum’s cooking evokes memories of family gatherings, and my hubby’s mouth-watering… he kept on coming to see me and ended up being spellbound by her fabulous cooking. Lol. Not joking. My mum is still a wonderful cook at age 80! She still gets up early every morning to cook. Bless her.

That all sounds delicious!

Now, to finish, can you tell us what to expect next? Will there be more from your YA series or other fiction? Or will you be concentrating on your poetry?

Next up is the final book in my YA fantasy series which will be set in The Land of Shadows. I also have several unfinished projects, some of which are short stories and as I mentioned earlier, the beginning of a story set in Tavira. Perhaps if I do write another poetry collection it will be set in Portugal… time will tell! 

Oh, now exciting!

Thank you so much for visiting, Marje. It’s been a pleasure.

Thank you for inviting me, Ritu.

My pleasure 😊

Peeps, you heard that right, the last in Marje’s YA series is on its way, too!

Now, as I mentioned before, I was lucky enough to read an ARC of Do What You Love, so let me share the blurb and my review.

The Blurb

Do What You Love is a personal poetry collection celebrating how the fates may have a part in all that we do.

With special poems and short reflective moments inspired by family, flowers and nature, love, scrumptious morsels, places I’ve visited, lived and intend to live in, the friendships and hopes I have for the future.

The overarching theme is to live a life well lived… And to do what you love.

float along with me
create clouds of sweetest joy
to do what you love
hold fate’s hand as we venture
near and far on life’s journey

My Review

Do What You Love: Fragility of Your Flame Poems Photography & Flash Fiction by M.J. Mallon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh what a lovely book, filled with poetic gems and beautiful prose!
I enjoy reading MJ Mallon’s poetic fiction, where she ties poetry with prose, and have read several of her previous books written similarly.
Do What You Love is almost autobiographical in the sense that she has taken her memories and written them in poetic form. The fictional, almost fantastical element is where she meets the three sisters of fate through her journey of reminiscences, and they talk about her different memories.
It’s not linear, but no conversation ever is, is it? Memories jump from the more recent to the older ones as they come tumbling into your mind.
I felt a keen connection to the poems about her daughters and the autumn trees. Autumn is one of my favourite seasons.
A lovely book with a personal touch.

AMAZON – DO WHAT YOU LOVE

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BKLC9DYY/

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/What-You-love-Fragility-Photography-ebook/dp/B0BKLC9DYY/

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/What-You-love-Fragility-Photography-ebook/dp/B0BKLC9DYY/

And here are some links about Marje and her other books.

I am thrilled to say that two of my poetry collections (Mr Sagittarius and Lockdown Innit) have been requested by prestigious libraries in the UK: The British Library, The Bodleian Library Oxford University, the Cambridge University Library, the National Library of Scotland, National Library of Wales and Trinity College Dublin for Legal Deposit.

Add the book to your TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63114445-do-what-you-love

The cover of the paperback and kindle have been designed by Colleen Chesebro who has a new service for authors which I can highly recommend. Colleen also designed the interior and cover of The Hedge Witch And The Musical Poet.

https://unicorncatspubservices.wordpress.com/my-services

Blog: https://mjmallon.com

All links via: https://linktr.ee/mjmallonauthor

Portfolio:
https://unicorncatspubservices.wordpress.com/portfolio

https://wordcraftpoetry.com/unicorn-cats-publishing-services/

Other poetry/flash fiction collections:

Kyrosmagica Publishing

The Hedge Witch And The Musical Poet

https://books2read.com/u/mv1OeV

Mr. Sagittarius Poetry and Prose

http://mybook.to/MrSagittarius

Anthology – This Is Lockdown (poetry, diaries and flash fiction – kindle)

http://mybook.to/Thisislockdown

Poetry during Lockdown – Lockdown Innit

 http://mybook.to/Lockdowninnit

Poetry also features in my highly acclaimed YA Fantasy series.  Each chapter begins with a short poem. The Curse of Time Book 1 Bloodstone and Book 2 Golden Healer are published by Next Chapter Publishing.

https://www.nextchapter.pub/books/bloodstone

https://www.nextchapter.pub/books/golden-healer

https://www.nextchapter.pub/authors/mj-mallon

About the Author

M J Mallon was born in Lion city Singapore, a passionate Scorpio with the Chinese Zodiac sign of a lucky rabbit. She spent her early childhood in Hong Kong. During her teen years, she returned to her father’s childhood home, Edinburgh where she spent many happy years, entertained and enthralled by her parents’ vivid stories of living and working abroad. Perhaps it was during these formative years that her love of storytelling began to be bolstered by these vivid raconteurs. She counts herself lucky to have travelled to many far-flung destinations, and this early wanderlust has fuelled her present desire to emigrate abroad. Until that wondrous moment, it’s rumoured that she lives sometimes in the UK and often times in Portugal. Her two enchanting daughters have flown the nest but often return with a cheery smile to greet her.

Her motto is to always do what you love, stay true to your heart’s desires, and inspire others to do so too.