Marie Sexton Interview
April 6, 2011
72 Comments
/ 1,674 views
Marie Sexton, author, is our guest today.
Many of you know Marie from her Coda series: Promises, A to Z, The Letter Z, and my personal favourite in this series Strawberries for Dessert. Her Valentine’s Day ‘short’ Putting Out Fires is part of this series. Paris A to Z, the third instalment in Zach’s and Angelo’s story and sequel to The Letter Z will be released today. This story is about old lovers facing each other and putting the past behind them as they attend Jon’s and Cole’s wedding in Paris with all its complications.
Marie has written another wonderful book that I reviewed recently, One More Soldier, that showed a different side and depth to her writing.
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Hi Marie and thank you for agreeing to be interviewed on the site. You have many fans here and I’m sure they can’t wait to talk to you.
Since this is your first visit could you give us the short version of Marie the person and Marie the writer?
Oh! I like that you distinguish between those two people. Marie the writer is sophisticated and funny and sarcastic and outgoing and has all kinds of fun. She’s also slightly neurotic.
Marie the real person is introverted, insecure, a total slob, and also slightly neurotic (the one thing she has in common with that OTHER Marie). She gets absolutely sick to her stomach when she accidentally offends people and spends most of her time worrying about what to make for dinner.
Promises was published in January 2010 and in just over a year you released 5 novellas and novels as well as one short story, with a 6th book released today. Yet you never went to a single writing class [well you did, just once] LOL To what do you attribute your success and prolific production
Luck. And years and years and years of reading like a fiend.
Actually, I’m not being completely honest. The truth behind my success is my husband. In late 2008, after eleven years of my job at an OB/Gyn clinic, my husband said to me, “Either stop bitching about your job, or quit.” So I quit. 
The plan was that once our daughter started school full-time (a year and half later) I would go back to work. What happened instead was that about six months into my stay-at-home mom gig, I woke up and realized there were voices in my head. I started writing, and I haven’t stopped since. The fact that I am lucky enough to have a fabulous husband who can support me while I sit at home and write is the number one key to my success (I use that term loosely).
I did a bit of research on you and found out that you love the mountains, having been born in Wyoming and raised in Colorado. Are there mountains where you live now?
I live right on the Colorado Front Range. Giant mountains to the west and flat, grassy plains to the east. I absolutely love it, and I doubt I’ll ever leave. Like Jared, I get a bit lost when the mountains
aren’t in sight.
What’s the best thing about writing and what are the challenges?
The best thing about it is that I can spend a whole day thinking about a blow job and it counts as productivity! The challenges? I guess I find it hard sometimes to balance those two different Maries we talked about earlier. Marie the author wants to be out there talking to everybody, and Marie the person hates how vulnerable that makes her.
But I’m not complaining. I absolutely love my job.
I noticed on the Dreamspinner site that Paris A to Z is the last book in the Coda series. Do you feel that there are stories yet to be told in this series or did you just want to move on to other projects, despite the fact that we love these characters so much?
There’s still one more Coda story I hope to eventually write, and that’s a follow-up to Strawberries for Dessert (concerning that ever-so-popular last line). But honestly, I don’t know when that will happen.
Other than that, I really feel like Coda is done. However, I told people over and over again that I had nothing more to write about Matt and Jared, and then those boys decided to make a liar out of me by 
making a date on Valentine’s Day. So although I have no plans of taking the series much further, I’m a true believer in the phrase, “Never say never.” Wherever the characters go, I will follow.
Of all the characters in this series I love Cole the most although I don’t think he’s a favourite of many readers; I can’t wait for his and Jon’s wedding. I think that he’s one of the most complex characters in this series.
Cole probably is my most popular character. He’s so much fun, and the reader reaction has actually been the most fun part of it. I’ve had so many people say, “I don’t want to read about him! He’s obnoxious!” or “I hate flamboyant characters!” But then they read the book, and usually they’re gushing about him by the end. Cole has a way of winning people over. He has a lot of fans.
Who did you find the most difficult to write?
Definitely Jon. He’s so uptight. And dry. And as Cole is fond of pointing out, Jon has almost NO sense of humor. It was difficult to make his narration even remotely interesting. On top of that, what people knew of him from A to Z and The Letter Z wasn’t exactly positive, and I worried my fans were already dead set against him. Luckily, I had Cole and George to help ease the way.
I notice all of your stories are told in the first person which is very difficult to do. Why did you decide to do that? Many writers find this technique to be a real challenge yet you have been successful using it in the Coda series as well as in One More Soldier. Why do you think that is?
I’ve only been writing for a year and a half, but I’ve been a reader all my life, and as a reader, I prefer stories told in first person. I really like to be able to lose myself in a character and not have to look up again until the very end. When I started writing Promises, it never even occurred to me to write in anything other than first. I did break my streak though. My latest two novels are in third, and I still sort of scold myself for it every now and then.
Since you are moving on to new projects would you like to tell us about them or are they still in the development stage?
I have two new novels coming out soon. The first is Between Sinners and Saints, which is about a playboy bartender in Miami and his rather innocent massage therapist. It’s tentatively scheduled for release on May 29 from Amber Allure. After that is Song of Oestend. This book is WAY outside my comfort zone, and to be honest, I’m scared to death about how it will be received! It’s sort of a fantasy, alternate-universe, old west story. It will be released by Total e-Bound on August 22.
I thought that One More Soldier was one of the most moving stories I have read in a long time and I absolutely loved the characters. What was the genesis of the story?
One More Soldier came from Ethan Stone. Ethan and I have been friends since before either of us was published. He sent me a short story one day and said, “Is this any good?” and somehow, I ended up stealing it from him. (Ethan very graciously let me have it.) It changed a lot as I wrote it – his version had nothing to do with Vietnam. You all can nag him if you want to see his version.
When I reviewed this book I found out that most readers didn’t know anything about it. Do you think that people tend to forget One More Soldier because it’s historical and is about a war that we would just as soon not remember?
One More Soldier is definitely my forgotten story! I think (as you said) it’s partly due to the Vietnam theme, which isn’t exactly romantic, and partly because the story doesn’t have a HEA. Although I tried to make the ending positive and uplifting, it’s not a traditional romance, and a lot of readers shy away from that. As a writer, that makes me a bit sad, but as a reader, I TOTALLY get it! Believe me!!
I asked a few of your fans to come up with questions for you:
Sherry F from the Midwest wants to know about your humour:
I thoroughly enjoy the snarky humor in the Coda series. Is that the type of humor she was raised with? (I know I was…my parents have a lot to answer for.)
I don’t know exactly how the Coda boys ended up being funny. I don’t consider myself funny at all, so it’s strange to me that the people who live in my head can know things that I don’t. Yet, they do. Maybe it’s because in real life, humor has to be fast, and I’m not good at thinking on my feet, but my boys have all the time in the world to come up with their smart-ass answers.
(By the way, do you all have any idea how much it drives Matt crazy that I insist on calling them “boys”? He gets a bit more annoyed at me each time I do it.)
KKM has a question that I know many fans have raised:
I love Angelo and Zach’s relationship. but many I think criticized you for its lack of sexual/physical exclusivity. Why did you craft such a relationship?
Yes, I have definitely managed to piss a few people off with Zach and Angelo! LOL.
Here’s the whole story:
Right after I finished A to Z, I started thinking about Cole and how he and Angelo were bound to run into each other at some point, and I knew instantly it would be explosive. I actually had a bit of a writer crisis: Did I put Angelo with the wrong guy? But then I thought, no, whatever was between Cole and Angelo would be just sex, and sex doesn’t mean much to Ang. And then I realized, Zach would GET that. Zach’s actually a pretty secure guy, and he really understands Angelo (better than Angelo, in some ways). I knew Zach wouldn’t feel threatened by Cole, and the very fact that he could accept it would diffuse the entire situation. So, I wrote a short story about Ang and Cole meeting at a party. The truth is, I never intended for anybody read it. It was just supposed to be for me, to put my mind at ease. But when I started writing The Letter Z a few months later, I knew Angelo and Jared were at odds, and I knew why…
The only thing I could do was follow the story. Angelo and Zach knew exactly what they wanted. Who was I to get in their way?
SusieQ has a different type of question:
My question is about Marie’s friendship with Heidi Cullinan. How did they meet, does their friendship influence her writing and if so how? And since they are 2 of my very favorites, have they ever considered writing a book together?? They play off each other so well and all their characters are amazing…I think a collaboration would be incredible!
Sometime last spring, Heidi sent an email to the Dreamspinner author list saying, “I’m doing a booth at Des Moines Pride. Anybody want to do it with me?” and I replied, “Sure!” We exchanged a few emails, but really, it wasn’t until I showed up on her doorstep in June that we started talking.
Some aspects of our writing style are the same, and yet our backgrounds and our techniques are very different. Heidi writes start to finish and I always start in the middle. Heidi came from romance and Regency. I came from fantasy and horror. Heidi’s been writing for years. I’m still a newbie. Heidi will talk a lot about arc and craft and beats, and I just stare at her blankly in response. But together, I think we sort of make each other’s muses sing. Or something.
The thing about Heidi and I is that we don’t agree on a lot of things, which is good when you need a nudge. Some things we just agree to disagree (like music and politics). Some things we’ve discussed ad nauseam (i.e. first person vs. third or pirating). Sometimes we come away with a new appreciation of the issue on both sides, and sometimes we sort of pat each other on the head and let it go. I think we definitely influence each other’s writing, and yet, it’s hard to say exactly how. Is it coincidence that after we met, Heidi suddenly wrote a novel in first person and I suddenly wrote one in third? Maybe. Maybe not. We’ve had multiple conversations that go something like this.
Me: “I started this new story and I realized I’m totally ripping off Nowhere Ranch.”
Her (after reading said story): “Um, I don’t really see the resemblance at all. But I started a new story, and I realized I’m totally ripping of Saints.”
Me (after reading her story): “I don’t see the resemblance at all.”
Will we ever collaborate on a project? Honestly, probably not. Certainly not anytime soon. The way we’re most alike is that we’re both very protective of our stories, and I’m not sure we’d want to deal with the fallout when we suddenly found Story wanting to go two different ways. If we did collaborate, it would be for something sort of small and fun. (Anybody want to know what would happen if Sam and Mitch met Zach and Ang?) 
Are you going to continue writing and posting free stories on your website for your fans about the characters from the Coda series or is it all over as soon as Paris A to Z is published, because you are moving on?
It all depends on my boys. If they get a wild urge to have some new story told, I’ll post it for the world to see. It’s really up to them. Wherever the characters go, I will follow. (I already said that once, didn’t I? Apparently, it’s my new motto.)
Before I let you go, most authors have a favourite character. Do you have one and if so would you like to share him with us?
Angelo, Angelo, Angelo, Angelo.
Angelo takes over my brain like no other character. Once, when I was writing A to Z, my husband and I were in the car and he asked me a question (I don’t even remember what it was). I answered him, and he turned to me and said, “Hey Angelo? I need to talk to my wife now.”
What’s next for Marie?
Right now, I’m in the very, very early stages of a new story that involves (I’m not even kidding here) space pirates. But again, it’s just beginning to take form, and I can’t guarantee it will ever see the light of day.
Thank you Marie
Thanks so much for having me!!
Marie Sexton’s Contact Information
Email: msexton.author@gmail.com
Website: http://MarieSexton.net
Coffee and Porn in the Morning blog: http://CupoPorn.wordpress.com
Find me on Facebook, or at http://MarieSexton.net/
Author Information
Wave
Madonna196
Bogusia
Larissa
Sirius
Whee, I get to be first. Hi Marie. Long time no see on the internet (like 5 minutes). LOL
I’m looking forward to Paris (since I finally read the Letter Z the other night
) and space pirates because I’ve seen the collage. 
I can’t believe you start in the middle. That nearly causes me to hyperventilate. Start at the start, end at the end. Whew, guess I’m a little OCD about that.
Thanks for sharing and enjoy release day.
You just type faster! LOL
Thanks Tam! Yes, I always start in the middle, usually at what ends up being the turning point for one of the characters. I tried to write Song of Oestend in order, and I only managed about two chapters before I skipped to the middle.
I might actually finish the first draft of the pirates in the next few days. Maybe.
Lovely interview, Wave! And a huge thank you to Marie! Can’t wait to read Paris A to Z, but gotta tell you….ever since seeing your pic of Levi, Marie, and reading the blurb on your site, I’m counting the days to the release of BS&S! And to answer your question “Anybody want to know what would happen if Sam and Mitch met Zach and Ang?” can I just say HELL YEA!!
Glad you’re excited about BS&S. Levi is HOT, isn’t he?
Wave & Marie, Thank you very much for this interesting interview. It has been a pleasure to read it
Marie, we will be patient and wait for any more Coda bits
and for all your other projects 
I´m sure he already knows we are dying to read it 
PS Any tip for actually making Ethan share his version??
Thanks Helena! And I’m not exactly sure how to persuade Ethan. Send a big hot man his way all tied up in a bow?
Marie
Thanks again for granting this lovely interview. You’re a terrific author and I will miss the Coda boys but I can still re-read all the books. :
Maybe Christian can come up with a green ball of a hot man tied up with a bow? Christian ?????
i cannot wait for the space pirates! thanks for asking my weirdly worded question! :0)
-kkm
Thanks kkm! Glad people are excited about the pirates. I better get back to work! LOL
“Hey Angelo? I need to talk to my wife now.”
Marie, between this and the card from the boys (sorry, Matt), I am convinced you have the best husband in the world! So, uhm, he got a brother?
Excellent interview. I agree with SusieQ, I’m really looking forward to meeting Levi. Thank you for sharing all those guys in your head with us.
He may have a brother Buda but he may not be gay. Although you never know – Gay For You? There could be another story there for Marie.
*Still thinking of a really awful book for you to review to make up for these latest books*
Love you, too, Wave.
I might have the best husband in the world. He’s pretty awesome. He does have two (much) younger brothers, and they’re adorable, but they both insist (much to my chagrin) on dating girls.
Oh those silly guys! Oh well, what is it they say about copies never being as good as the original? *kicks dirt* Guess I’ll just have to keep tying up TJ while I’m looking.
“Guess I’ll just have to keep tying up TJ while I’m looking.”
Why Buda, you silver tongued devil. You sure do know how to sweet talk a boy. Take me now!!
Tj
Shame on you! You want to be tied up by Buda??? I never knew this was going on right under my very eyes. I want to watch!!!
Always a pleasure to come in to Jessewave and read the great interviews, Thanks Wave. Marie I just love you girl, such a pleasure getting to read your stories, keep up the great work (yes more pressure for another). One More Solider was a very moving story, don’t think I had enough tissues for it, never thought I love a book without a HEA, but this one will be remembered. I have read Ethan’s version hot little number, the sex is off the charts. Hmmm… wonder if I can convince him to upload it as a freebie on his website.
Hard to narrow my favs in Coda series, cause I just love them all, the all have their quirks that makes them so special, this will be a series that I will reread over and over. So if the boys talk just know we will be listening. 
So excited to see Between Sinners and Saints and Song of Oestend getting published 
Oh and don’t let that hubby go girl he sounds like one in a million!! 
Thanks Laura! A you know, mine and Ethan’s version are pretty different, although the bare bones (no pun intended) are the same.
LOL Marie, I love that Ethan loves his men ummm really BIG!!
the bare bones (no pun intended) are the same
Knowing Ethan, I would guarantee the bones he wrote are much, much bigger! *g*
You are absolutely right about that.
Is that the kind of “bones” you throw over your shoulder and burp?
Laura, you are our last hope
PLEASE ETHAN 
LET US READ YOUR SIDE 
*starting to look for a big hot man to send his way all tied up in a bow*
LOL Helena, remember size matters!
Laura,
Still busy looking everywhere
Do you think meanwhile I can bribe him with
or 
????
Knowing Ethan : Pizza, Beef Jerky and Mt. Dew’s , LOL.
or The Fireman from Thunder Down Under. 
Laura
Thank YOU for supporting the site. We really appreciate you.
Marie was a joy to interview and I’m happy that her fans got to know her a little better through this interview.
Great interview, Wave. Marie, it’s amazing that your first book was released just last year. You have quickly become one of my fave authors whose books are an automatic buy for me. I just love the Coda series, Strawberries for Dessert being my favorite book – Cole can do no wrong, I just adore him!
I hope you’ll be inspired to visit these boys again in the future because it makes me sad to think that this may be the last we hear of them.
I’ve had One More Soldier on my tbr list for a while now but I am terrified to read it because by all accounts it’s a tear-jerker (and no HEA?!). I hope to screw up the nerve soon as the reviews have me very, very curious.
Can’t wait to read Paris A to Z and Between Sinners and Saints
Grace
If you don’t read this book soon you will kick yourself for waiting so long. The characters, which are what Marie is so great at writing, are special, and that’s why you will absolutely love this story. Go for it girl and then come back and tell us how it hit you right in the neart!
Wow that good, huh? Alright Wave, you’ve convinced me!
I’ve been told I should have included tissues with purchase, but I tried to make it somewhat positive, as well. Hope you like it!
LOL. I’ll send you the bill for the tissues then
I absolutely agree with Wave, Grace! One More Soldier is heartrending, but the ending is so beautifully uplifting, you’ll be smiling through your tears.
Thanks Buda. Glad to know that the ending is uplifting, now I’m kinda excited to read it!
Grace, you won’t regret reading One More Soldier. It’s a really beautiful story and the ending is more hopeful than sad. For once Wave, Buda and I all agree!
Thanks Grace! I appreciate that!
Cole really is a lot of fun. I had a great time writing his book, and I loved making Matt deal with him in Paris. Hope you enjoy it!
I can see how Jon would be a difficult character to write, but you’ve done a fantastic job with him! I think he’s become my favorite of all the Coda “boys”. He just seems like such a real person, like he could be the guy you work with or the neighbor down the street, someone you see all the time and you know they’re a good person, if a little uptight, but it takes you a while to realize that they’re also an interesting person, too and one of your best friends. I think he kind of snuck up on Cole that way, too. He could have ended up a wooden, two-dimensional character, but you managed to show us there’s more to him than a suit and made him a complex character with a real heart.
Now, that said, where are the pictures of Jon? At your website you’ve got a page of Matt and Jared, a definitive Cole, two versions of Angelo, and you said Zach looks just like the covers of the books. So where is poor Jonny-boy?
That is a very good question! I don’t know why I don’t have pictures of Jon. Maybe I’ll have to look for one. If you find somebody that you think is him, let me know!
The best thing about it is that I can spend a whole day thinking about a blow job and it counts as productivity!
I loved this! I always appreciate people with great sense of humor.
Thank you, Marie, for letting us learn more about you (I agree with Buda, your husband is great). Seeing how so many books fail in the middle, I can see why you start there. I’m looking forward ALL your new books, but those space pirates piqued my curiosity quite a bit.
My husband came home one day back when I was still writing Promises and said, “what did you do today?” I said, “I wrote a blow job.” His eyes got HUGE. He just stood there for a second, then he said, “That is HOT!”
Glad everybody is excited about the space pirates!
I just read the part in Paris A to Z where George and Zach are talking about Jonathan and George says “He didn’t look at what they had as a real relationship.But Cole snuck up on him..”
I guess they both snuck up on each other.
“I guess they both snuck up on each other.”
I think that’s definitely true!
Great interview! Looking forward to reading Paris!
Thanks jayhjay! Hope you like it!
Hi Marie – I just caught on to the coolness of your books very recently, and really enjoy them. One of the things I like, actually, is the subtlety of Zach and Angelo’s relationship, that they can have a serious emotional commitment but not be completely physically exclusive.
Thanks GR! I think for some couples, sex is the ultimate manifestation of their commitment, but that isn’t the case for Zach and Angelo. Glad you’re enjoying my boys!
Hi Marie
Great interview! You know I’m a fan
Can’t wait for the chance to work with you again.
Thanks Reese! You have no idea how close I came to choosing the publisher for Oestend based on who you work with! I have no doubt you would have rocked that cover! I do hope we get a chance to work together again in the future.
Hi Marie,
Great to find out more about you! I love Angelo too, and the idea of what would happen if he and Zach met Sam and Mitch blows my mind. Actually, I think I’d rather they met Randy… *ponders this*
Looking forward to reading Paris A to Z and all your future work! You’re an inspiration
Definitely endless possibilities for naughtiness, if we mix her boys and mine.
Thanks so much for your comment! I don’t think I’ve ever been called an “inspiration” before. Makes me all glowing and happy!
A slam-dunk interview, natch.
Marie, I love the stuff you shared about your friendship with Heidi. Y’all have become such a feature of my ambles through the Land of Blog.
Get cracking on those space pirates!! Sexton BOOTY, ahoy!!
Damon
It’s so great to see a comment from you. I kept hoping, and hoping. It took Marie to get you to come out of lurkdom.
I totally agree.
“Sexton BOOTY, ahoy”
Oh, thanks Damon! I’m going to owe you so many drinks by the time we meet NOLA. And I’m still laughing at the booty comment.
Marie, you totally broke my heart with One More Soldier, yet I thought it ended on a positive note. Next, I read Strawberries for Dessert, amazed at the life you breathed into very realistic, very complex characters. I now have a bottle of Arbor Mist in my refrigerator (or, rather I did until last weekend.) How’s that for influencing a reader?
I love interviews where you finish reading feeling like you really gained insight into the person.
Thanks Eden! And glad to hear about the Arbor Mist. They should be paying me a commission!
Look forward to meeting you in NOLA!
Marie, I was just at DSP and noticed neither The Letter Z nor Paris A to Z are listed as available in print. Do you know if they will be? I’d love to complete the collection in paper as well as e-ink. Thanks.
Stories have to be over 60k words to go to print with DSP. At this time, there are no plans to send them to print, but I would love if they printed TLZ and Paris in one volume.
Marie
Perhaps the DSP authors could suggest to Elizabeth that DSP do what other publishers do – they combine books by the same authors and publish them as one volume. So for example, you could have 3 print books for your 6 stories. It’s worth a try.
Grr. Well that’s not what I wanted to hear.
I think you should lobby them to do the whole collection in print like Wave says. Or maybe we readers should do the lobbying. 
Really enjoyable interview Marie & Wave. It’s always a pleasure to get to know a little more about an author whose books I enjoy.
Marie, thanks for all the great stories – and One More Soldier was just beautiful, and heart breaking, and surprisingly hopeful. I’m looking forward to the space pirates now!
“Hey Angelo? I need to talk to my wife now.”
I love that! Be sure to tell your husband that we all think he’s a pretty amazing guy!
Thanks Tj! It was fun doing the interview. Apparently, those space pirates are going to be in high demand! Somebody better crack the whip so I can get back to work tomorrow!
And I’ll be sure to pass your message on to DH!
“Marie the real person is introverted, insecure, a total slob, and also slightly neurotic”
Having met Marie IRL I would have to say that she is not at all introverted or insecure and def not a slob. As for the neurotic part…well that is true. But try to find a writer who isn’t neurotic.
And her husband is absolutely adorable and very sweet.
I’d be scared to show my version of OMS because it could never compare to Marie’s amazing version.
But a studly man with a man, a pizza, Mt. Dew and beef jerky and I might think about it.
As for the “big bones” aspect…nah, I won’t go there.
Hi Ethan
How about I send you TWO of each? I really want to read your story! You can email it to me.
Ethan, I´m as desesperate as to triying to convince the fireman from TDU even if he may complain about the bow
Because I´m sooo aware you have declined before sharing it. So unfair 
One of the things I do when lurking your (not-worksafe) site is to check if you have changed minds and have added the story
I have never though about comparisons. I´m aware of the fact they are totally different stories, even if one led to the other, and that you may have considered changes. But I love your books, I love your writting and I would love to read this story that never was.
No pressure here, I support any decision you take about it, but I´m going to keep trying
EThan that would be SO COOL!
It would be like an unaired pilot from a boxset. You could even give it away as part of a behind-the-scenes contest, I always find alternate drafts and raw material so interesting because it shows us where the mind went and wasn’t.
@Wave… I know I know. LOL I promise to be good or else I promise submissive nudity.
Damon
Can we do both?
I’ll take “good” and I know that Buda and Tj would LOVE the submissive nudity. For the latter maybe I can watch.
. (Anybody want to know what would happen if Sam and Mitch met Zach and Ang?)
I think Zach and Angelo meeting up with Randy and Ethan would be hot hot hotness, with a lots of opportunities for more hotness after that!
Definitely would buy that, I think the book would scorch our hands and make us wiggle in our chairs
!! 