Andrea Clarke is an interior decorator with a great talent for visualization, that is, looking at scenes and imagining something different. But nothing has prepared her for the scene she finds upon returning home from a business trip, eager to tell her older, sophisticated husband, Maurice, she’s pregnant. She finds Maurice with half his face blown away, gun in hand. Stories in the media suggest he was involved in shady business dealings. Traumatized and wanting to protect the health of her unborn child, Andrea “sees” an odd place of refuge: a simple, upstairs bedroom in a derelict old farmhouse, furnished with a narrow metal bed, a rag rug, a small table before a window, and a vase of yellow flowers. She is obviously recalling a picture from a decorating book she’s seen perhaps years ago.

The room really exists in the rural Midwest, and Andrea is able to restore it exactly as in the picture. There, in serenity she awaits the birth of her child. But one day, a stranger comes along to shatter her peace. He tells her the unrecognizable suicide she found was not her husband, but his brother, a homeless man. He paints a vivid picture and Andrea, all too vulnerable, “sees” it. She must return to the city to find the truth. In a deserted building inhabited by homeless people, she comes face-to-face with one of the men.

What genre is this?
Suspense.

Tell us about Andrea.
Andrea is 28 years old, some 15 years younger than Maurice, her husband. He was an urban developer, working with grant funds, to restore old landmark buildings. So the couple were very suited in their tastes. One aspect, though, is that Maurice’s first wife is a well-known psychiatrist whom Andrea feels a little intimidated by. This first wife, Sybil, was able years ago to thwart Maurice’s first suicide attempt. In a way now, she helps Andrea “see” things correctly. Andrea is strongly led by the power of her imagination.

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
Yes. I have eight more books on Kindle. Perhaps next, “The Woman Who Lived to Be 150.” It has fantastical elements but reviewers say it could “almost happen.” Also, “Green Old Age” is a cozy mystery set in New England. It has to do with young people turning ancient overnight which quite effectively takes them bloodlessly out of the stream of life.

Tell us about yourself.
I live in Denver and have been writing for some years. I tend to write with a light touch and don’t know much about sex, violence, or chick lit. I write by the seat of my pants and never outline because I can’t think that far ahead.

Do you have a website?
www.marymacsbooktique.blogspot.com

How easily do new storylines come to you? If we give you four random words – Man, Woman, Airport, Darkness – can you give us a brief storyline?
They come fairly easily to me. Those four words exactly fit a very early novel of mine. It was a love story between a nun and a nice guy. He’s leaving, like on a jet plane, all sad at what cannot be, and at the last moment, she comes to see him off and…believe it or not…kisses him goodbye! Conferring on him some kind of blessing, I guess. I still have it on my closet shelf.

You should publish it! What do you have planned next?
I have in mind a book called “The Algonquin Book Club” where women characters from classic literature meet and discuss the books they were in. Some of them aren’t happy with their portrayals.