Welcome Martha Reynolds

After ending an accomplished career as a fraud investigator, I am now a full-time writer and bestselling author.

My books include the award-winning Chocolate for Breakfast (the first book in the Swiss Chocolate trilogy) and Amazon bestsellers Bits of Broken Glass and Best Seller.

My novel Villa del Sol was awarded the 2018 Book Prize in Literary Fiction by the Independent Publishers of New England.

The most horrible year 2020 knocked me off course a bit, but I released my 10th novel, The Summer of Princess Diana, in October 2021.

Meanwhile, I write on my blog – mainly about life, family, friends, and the changing world around us.

My new book has a working title of Always and Never Alone and I’m aiming for a release date of December 2022.

You can follow Martha through her social channels:

Tell me about yourself. What inspired you to write? I always wanted to write, but my real-life job precluded me from spending enough time in that creative realm. When I retired in 2011, I devoted my energy to writing my first novel, Chocolate for Breakfast. Now I endeavor to write one book a year. It’s an optimistic goal, for sure.

Describe your desk / writing space. I have written books by hand in a spiral notebook! I think I wrote the bulk of two novels that way. When it’s time to type, I’m usually in front of my desktop computer with the massive monitor (for my old tired eyes), or, if possible, I go to the computer room at my local library and work uninterrupted for three hours.

Do you have a writing routine, or do you write when inspired? I don’t believe the “rule” that a writer must write every day. Life happens! If a certain phrase strikes, type it into your phone. I write when I can.

How do you come up with the title to your books? Ah, that’s an interesting question. The title of my first novel, Chocolate for Breakfast, actually came to me one night when I couldn’t sleep. I got up and wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget it! The next two books in the series needed to have the word ‘chocolate’ in the title, so that was a little easier. For my novel Bits of Broken Glass, I took the title from a fragment of a James Taylor lyric, because the song it comes from figures into the story. Sometimes I brainstorm a few titles and bounce them off a couple of trusted friends.

What was the hardest scene for you to write? Which scene was your favorite to write? The hardest scene was in my first novel. I accurately depict the way my character Bernadette discovers that her father has died. This was word for word the way I found out. So, I relived it all, some 30+ years later. Second hardest was the sexual assault scene in my recent novel, The Summer of Princess Diana. My favorite scene to write was probably the ending of Villa del Sol because I had been struggling with the ending, and when it dawned on me, I was so joyous that I could make it work that I rushed to write it.

What inspired your book/series? Every book I’ve written has a kernel of truth in it, even if they’re novels. So the “Swiss Chocolate” series was inspired by my junior year abroad in Switzerland. Much of what goes into my books comes from what’s inside me; I just make up a lot of the other stuff.

What are you working on next? I recently returned from a trip to Portugal and Spain and am dying to include some of that in my new novel!

What authors or books have influenced your writing? Anna Quindlen, Elizabeth Strout, Claire Cook, Catherine Ryan Hyde. I respect and admire all of them.

If you could live anywhere, in this world or fantasy, where would you live? Well, Switzerland – as long as I had plenty of money.

What is your favorite meal? Even though I’ve been trying to stay away from carbs, I could eat pizza every day.

Coffee or tea? Wine or beer? Coffee in the morning, tea throughout the day. Not much of a drinker anymore, a glass of wine with a good meal or an ice-cold beer in the summer!
Describe yourself in three words. Curious. Optimistic.

[Author Interview] Martha Reynolds