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Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?
I write in this genre out of my career interest in globalization and its impacts, and it allows me to use my academic background in microbiology. I also have been personally interested in how relationships have evolved in an age of social media and limited privacy. The suspense thriller genre seemed like the right way to weave all those interests together.
What research (or world-building – for fantasy/paranormal/Sci-fi) is required?
I like to write what I know. My story ideas tend to originate from my own experiences (career and personal) and various literary influences. For example, there were several factors that contributed to the writing of Counting on Trust.
First was my interest in globalization and its impacts, especially with regard to China and its relations with the U.S. This began when I accompanied my husband on a trip to China in 1978 with a delegation of faculty members from the University of Pittsburgh. At that time, China was just opening up to the West. What I saw and learned there suggested some interesting story ideas.
Next, the idea for a story involving corporate intrigue came while my husband and I were living in Nebraska. There was a lot of research on GMO foods being done at some of the universities there. We lived on a small lake, and I decided to invent a fictional company, Omniprotein, that was doing research on GMO fish. The theft of this company’s intellectual property by a Chinese general kicks off all the subsequent action.
A third influence was my interest in the work of Jane Austen. She explored relationships and challenged the social norms around romance and marriage in her day. I wanted to similarly explore how relationships are changing in modern times.
Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.
That re-establishing trust after it is broken is much harder than creating it in the first place.
Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?
One of the things I enjoy most about writing is creating the characters that will populate a story. Like many writers, my characters are built up from an amalgam of people I have known at different points in my life. I like to mix and match physical traits, personality, temperament, and behavioral quirks. Often I will exaggerate these a bit to provide more depth and interest for my readers. Then I like to give each character a backstory that provides a rationale for their behavior. Lastly, I like to play out little scenarios to see how they would interact with each other based on all that, and make adjustments.
I like to think of it as being a kind of “character chef”: you might have a recipe of sorts, but the real fun and creativity comes with experimenting and tweaking until it you get something that feels just right. Then I “play dolls” with them to see the character dynamics hold up.
Are you a plotter or pantser?
Overall, on the spectrum, I’m closer to plotter than pantser. I am more of a plotter in laying out the story line, and getting flow carefully laid out. I’m more of a pantser when it comes to character creation.
Look to your right – what’s sitting there?
The Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains. I live on Whidbey Island in the northern Puget Sound and my house faces east with a view across the Sound to the Cascade Mountains. I’m in a glass enclosed sun room with this view and I have found to be the perfect spot to write and reflect.
Anything new coming up from you? What?
I’m currently taking a break from my writing due to the recent, sudden death of my husband of 54 years. Before this happened, I had been sketching out a few ideas for the next book which would probably involve some of my favorite characters from Counting on Trust. But those will have to wait for a while.
In this suspense-charged, touching novel, Counting on Trust, information is stolen from a U.S. genetic engineering company (Omniprotein) by an employee promised payment by a Chinese general who wants to profit from selling the company’s technologies in the military region of China he commands.• To force quick payment the thief attacks fellow employees and threatens to continue until his money arrives. Will his next targets be: young lovers, computer geek Gabriel and gorgeous biologist Selena, who are discovering loving sex while trying to overcome post-traumatic effects of Selena’s girlhood rape.• Company president, Eleanor, who’s determined to keep some privacy and intimacy although her job’s high profile and her husband, Charley, has just had prostate cancer surgery.• Venture capitalist, John, who plans to duplicate Omniprotein’s facility in China and reunite with his ex-wife, fashion designer Ziyi, who returned to Shanghai after their only child died.The personal stories of these couples explore how privacy, intimacy and trust are changing in our social-media age. They paint a compelling portrait of our time.
Excerpt – Disturbance - https://www.facebook.com/countingontrust/videos/391102768302904/
About the Author:
Themes of
novels by M. Ferguson Powers reflect the author’s varied interests, including
preservation of the natural world and its creatures;
Challenges of
building and maintaining loving relationships in a culture with decreasing
respect for personal boundaries and privacy
Influences of
globalization on world events and how the U. S. and other nations relate to one
another
Public policy
issues such as controlling the military-industrial-political complex and
requiring the health care industry to be more respectful of its clients
The need for
cooperation across governments, cultures, and societies to address global
challenges such as climate change
Developments in
business and university administration and management
Powers has
taught microbiology, headed a university office of research, served as executive
director of two university-business partnership programs, and co-authored two
books on university administration. She has a bachelor of science degree in
bacteriology from The Pennsylvania State University, a master’s in experimental
psychology from George Mason University, and a doctorate in educational
leadership from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
She lives on an
island near Seattle with husband David R. Powers and their two shelties. Her
first novel, Each Unique and Fascinating, about a bullied young girl whose
father has gone to war, was published in 2012.
OrcaSpeak, a novel of relationships and suspense, was published in 2013,
and its prequel, Counting on Trust, was published in 2017.
Website:http://www.mfergusonpowers.com/
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