I’d like to welcome author, Jocie McKade to the blog this week for #ThisorThatThursday! Happy Vetrans’ Day!
Words that describe you:
Honest, warped sense of humor, loves her family.
I can sometimes be honest to a fault, but I mean well. I have a super snarky sense of humor that usually explodes at the most inappropriate times. My family is first in my life, always. I am so grateful for a loving family.
Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t:
Snarky sense of humor, klutz, procrastinator
See above why that sense of humor gets me in trouble. I am a born klutz, I can walk across the living room and trip over the socks I’m wearing! The odd thing is, I used to do gymnastics and rarely ever fell, I mean I was like a cat on the balance beam, yet couldn’t walk across the gym. Go Figure! And I tend to procrastinate with my writing….is that the best word I could use? Or, should I write something else? Or, oh look, the deer I feed is in the back field!
Favorite foods:
I love to cook, and I love country cooking. A child of Southern parents, that means anything with butter! LOL I do love a baked ham, with mashed potatoes, green beans, and homemade biscuits. Then again, I can go for a good pizza, love lasagna, anything Mexican, and I’ve been trying a lot of Middle Eastern recipes lately. Yup, I love food!
Things that make you want to gag:
Raw oysters, escargot, and mushrooms.
Favorite music or song:
I love most all types of music, country, rock, jazz, blues, instrumental. When I writing, I tend to go for instrumental, I often listen to Adrian Von Ziegler, a young composer from Europe. He writes the most beautiful Celtic music. I stumbled on his Youtube page quite by accident and I’ve become a fan. I also love Native American music, it soothes my soul, especially flutes.
If I’m working on my Mayson-Dickson series I flip between country music when writing about southern twin Emme Mayson, to more jazz ballads when penning lines about Jackie Dickson, the Boston sister.
Music that drives you crazy:
While I respect the talent it takes to perform opera, listening to it annoys me. Maybe I haven’t found the right opera yet, but it’s a no listen genre for me.
Favorite beverage:
My daily go to is tea. I raise herbs and blend many of my own teas. I tend to experiment with the blends as I write a tea leaf reader mystery series and I need to know how the tea tastes!
On a relaxing evening….I’m a whisky or bourbon girl. Kentucky bourbon or Tennessee whiskey!
Something that gives you a sour face:
Scotch, I have no idea how anyone drinks that libation. Maybe that’s why I tend to make all the bad guys in my books scotch drinkers??? Hmmm.
Favorite smell:
I’m a country girl and live on Dust Bunny Farm, so to me the smell of fresh cut hay is my favorite smell in the world. I can stand in the barn and just close my eyes and take in the scent of fresh hay just laid up in the loft.
Something that makes you hold your nose:
Most perfumes and colognes. I suffer from migraines and whoooo, sometimes those perfumes just set my head off. I’ve found a few that are lovely, but very few.
Something you wish you could do:
I wish I could draw. I’d love to be able to draw book scenes that I see in my head. I also have vivid dreams and I wish I could draw the details my sleepy mind sees.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do:
Nothing. Honestly, there are some things I don’t like to do, but I wouldn’t want to ever ‘un-learn’ anything that I’ve been fortunate enough to learn. I find anything I can learn, any skill I can master, any fact I can study is a wonderful thing — Life is learning.
Things you’d walk a mile for:
One more conversation with my mama to tell her I actually got my book published. I’d walk thru fire for this.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room:
Any room where people put down others. Everyone is important. I have left conversations and friends who gossip or put someone down because of where they were born, their education, or their job.
Things you always put in your books:
Veterans. I’ve written over fifteen books and nearly all of them have a U.S. Veteran in them. I don’t think our service members get the recognition they deserve, particularly those that served during Vietnam. I try to include them in all my books. I only hope my characters make them proud.
Things you never put in your books:
Any harm to a kid. I can have violence in a book, but my soul just won’t let me write anything that would show harm towards children.
Things to say to an author:
Your books made me smile, kept me up all night, made me laugh at inappropriate moments in the doctors office.
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:
True story —- “You write ‘that’ stuff? No wonder nobody is in line to buy a book.”
Referring to a cozy mystery…..then she asked where the ladies room was. There is a special moment in fiction for her.
Favorite books (or genre):
I read everything! Hey, I was a librarian for sixteen years, so of course, I had to read many of the books that we ordered. I mean what kind of librarian would I be if I couldn’t recommend good books? LOL I love thrillers. Shhh…..as a kid I wanted to be a secret agent, so thrillers let me indulge my childhood
Books you wouldn’t buy:
Horror….not for me, I’m a coward. I’ve started a couple of horror books through the years, but leaving all the lights on was expensive. Although one of my book series, The Three Baers (a romantic comedy series) was featured as a prop in a horror movie! The movie was actually a fun horror movie, Happy Death Day. It released on my husbands birthday, so guess what movie he got to go to for his birthday?
The nicest thing a reader said to you:
I been blessed with amazing readers. Last year a reader discovered my books and wrote me a heartfelt email of how my books lifted her spirits and gave her sanity throughout the ‘lock-down’. How amazing, and humbling that my words would make someone feel that way!
The craziest thing a reader said to you:
I was at one of my first book signings and a very enthusiastic reader came bounding up to my table and said, “I love your books, and I want an Albert!”
I was completely stumped. I smiled and nodded as she went on and on about ‘Albert.’ I couldn’t for the life of me place ‘Albert’. My daughter showed up about then, saw my completely confused face, leaned down and whispered, “mom, that’s the grizzly bear in one of your Baer books.”
I had completely forgotten I’d put the little critter in my book, and totally forgotten I’d named him. LOL Bless readers who love your books so much they remember those little details.
