Reading into books ~ Maressa Mortimer

Last Tuesday, my new novel, Burrowed was released onto the unsuspecting public. Apart from those that follow me on social media; they knew what was coming.

I have been so busy, so I didn’t manage to get enough energy together to organise a proper book tour. I simply asked if any of my friends would like to blog about my book, and several came forward.

It’s been wonderful and humbling to read their blogs, and it makes you wish you had asked even more people to join, as the reviews are so interesting! Fortunately, I also asked a friend to run a professional book tour, so I’m looking forward to even more reviews.

One of the things that struck me is what people read into my books. I don’t feel like I’m a deep thinker, and I have tremendous fun writing my books, but I don’t ponder and stare at the screen; the words just come. Several of the reviews mentioned thoughts and ideas that were perhaps deeper than my thoughts had ever been. But I loved to see their reaction to my book.

Like this amazing quote from Dawn Fanshaw, “The relationships between the characters are a forum to explore issues of trust, compromise, teamwork and courage, as they learn to face their own strengths and weaknesses to overcome forces larger than themselves.” It’s by accident in a way, as I simply follow where my characters go and I daydream about them on paper. Before you know it, the story has been turned into a book, with people reading it and writing about it and asking me about it as well.

It’s one of the things I love about Book Launch Parties, as there will be some wonderful questions that make you think as a writer. A blog about your book is almost the other way round, isn’t it? It’s the reader asking and answering the questions about your book. I find it fascinating and I’m so grateful for all those incredible friends who not only read my book, but actually thought about the book and wrote great thoughts about Burrowed as well.

Do you organise or ask for organised Book Tours?

Maressa Mortimer is Dutch but lives in the beautiful Cotswolds, England with her husband and four (adopted) children. Maressa is a homeschool mum as well as a pastor’s wife, so her writing has to be done in the evening when peace and quiet descend on the house once more. She loves writing Christian fiction, as it’s a great way to explore faith in daily life. Because of her interest in writing, Maressa is part of Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion For Writing, an anthology encouraging people to write.

Her debut novel, Sapphire Beach, was published in December 2019, and her first self published novel, Walled City, came out in December 2020, followed by Viking Ferry, a novella. Beyond the Hills is the second book in the Elabi Chronicles, and was released in 2021, followed by stand-alone novel Burrowed, released in 2022. All of Maressa’s books are available from her website, www.vicarioushome.com, Amazon or local bookshops.