Q: Hi Shirley and welcome. I am so glad you could join us here at RomanceJunkies. To start, will you please tell us a little bit about your current projects?

Shirley: Brooke, thanks for doing this interview with me. I rarely work on more than one project at a time, and presently I'm writing a shapeshifter romance which takes place in the same imaginary kingdom as NIGHT SECRETS and NIGHT SHADOWS. The heroine can shapeshift to a wolf.

Q: Name the three qualities you think a good writer must possess.

Shirley: Very good question. Persistence is definitely important. A vivid imagination is equally important. He/she must have some writing talent to begin with, either innate or developed over time.

Q: When working towards a deadline, are you usually ahead of schedule, right on schedule, or telling yourself you work best under pressure as the clock strikes midnight?

Shirley: I can keep pretty much to schedule. I set aside a time for writing and stick with it.

Q: Do you remember what your first "real" writing project was? Did you write it out by hand or use some other method?

Shirley: When I first began writing, I wrote mostly short stories and essays. My first novel involved reincarnation and took place during World War II. I always write out by hand and then type the project into the computer.

Q: You're pounding away the keyboard, and it is time for a break. How do you spend the time? Walking around? Checking email? Something else?

Shirley: I love to go for walks; they help me overcome writer's block. I read and write email.

Q: Which room in your home is your favorite? Even though it's "number one", is there anything you'd change about it?

Shirley: My dining room is my favorite, although I spend most of my time in the Florida room. Right now, I'm in the process of moving from Miami to Birmingham, AL.

Q: How long have you been growing orchids? Do you have a greenhouse for them? Is there one particular variety that grows better for you?

Shirley: I've been growing orchids for about ten years, but I must confess, I don't always have success with them. I don't have a greenhouse, but here in Miami, I can leave them outside for most of the year. I hang them over the back fence. Phaleonopsis is my favorite, such a wide variety of colors.

Q:Which airline were you a flight attendant with? Having grown up in an airline family myself, and having done a lot of travel for business, I know it's definitely not all glamour and glitz…but you do get to visit a lot of different places. Which one was your favorite? Was there any particular locale that seeing it once was enough?

Shirley: I flew for Eastern Airlines, back when there was an Eastern. I enjoyed flying to Pittsburgh, because that was my home, and I got to see my family then. I enjoyed all the cities I flew to.

Q: There are many stories and movies about superheroes. What in your view constitutes a real-life hero? Which real people do you consider to be heroes?

Shirley: The actual definition of hero differs from what we think of a literary hero or a hero in the movies. I think of a hero as someone who has made a beneficial difference in a life or lives. I like to read about World War II. The soldiers, sailors, and marines then were heroes, just like our soldiers in Iraq are real life heroes. I don't like the terms "football hero" or "baseball hero." That's not my idea of a hero.

Q: Which is more romantic and why: a walk in the country or a walk on the beach?

Shirley: Both sound awfully romantic to me, but I have pleasant memories of a romantic walk on the beach, so I'd have to say that is the more romantic.

Q: How do you describe Shirley Martin? How do Shirley Martin's family and friends describe her?

Shirley: Good question! I think of myself as a hardworking 72 yr. old grandmother who doesn't feel her age, but rather feels twenty years younger. I think that would probably be how my friends and family would describe me, as someone who doesn't show her age. Let me add that I love to read, and read just about anything I can get my hands on. I think it broadens my outlook on life. I'm very conservative, by the way.

MORE FUN…

Q: Which room in your home is your favorite?

Shirley:My dining room is my favorite, although I spend most of my time in the Florida room.

Q: Summer has arrived! What was the first thing you noticed about its arrival? Is it your favorite season, or is there one you like better?

Shirley: Here in Miami, most of the seasons feel the same, although we do have a few cold days in the winter. Back in Pennsylvania, I loved the spring, when the lilacs were in bloom, and thousands of daisies and violets dotted the meadows.

Q: What is the one food as a child you abhorred and refused to eat no matter what, but now as an adult, you love it and can't get enough of it?

Shirley: I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that. If I disliked a food as a child, I probably dislike it now. Liver comes to mind, also oysters.

Q: Name the one appliance that lurks in the back of a cabinet or drawer that you had to have until you got it!

Shirley: I'm not very acquisitive when it comes to appliances. Now if you're talking jewelry or clothes, it's a different story. I love both.

Q: Tell us about the one thing in your closet that should have been tossed a long time ago, but will remain there forever.

Shirley: Nothing I can think of. Since my husband died a few years ago, I've been tossing a lot of his things out, then I started on mine, knowing that if I'm going to move, I can't take everything with me.

Q: And lastly, no interview of a writer would be complete without this question: what is your favorite comfort food?

Shirley: Need you ask? Chocolate!

Thank you, Shirley, for spending time with us, and continued success with your writing!

By Brooke Wills