We’re on a character interview roll!
Over the weekend, I chatted with Mae Martin. She’s a southerner who loves silliness, hates bullying, and has a very unusual talent for solving mysteries. She’s also the product of Amber Foxx’s imagination, author of The Mae Martin Mysteries.
Mae is an extraordinary character with a very extraordinary way of seeing the world — one that’s very different from us.
Intrigued? Read on for more about Mae Martin and some fascinating mystery reading!
The first Mae Martin psychic mystery
Obeying her mother’s warning, Mae Martin-Ridley has spent years hiding her gift of “the sight.” When concern for a missing hunter compels her to use it again, her peaceful life in a small Southern town begins to fall apart. New friends push her to explore her unusual talents, but as she does, she discovers the shadow side of her visions– access to secrets she could regret uncovering.
Gift or curse? When an extraordinary ability intrudes on an ordinary life, nothing can stay the same.
“No murder, just mystery.
Every life hides a secret, and love is the deepest mystery of all.”
What’s the one trait you like most about yourself?
I’m a really good mother to my stepdaughters, Autumn Brook and Summer Stream. I was only twenty-one when I married their daddy, and I moved in with him when the twins were only eight months old. His divorce from their mama wasn’t even final and neither was my divorce from my first husband, but I loved Hubert and the girls and we got married as soon as we could. I’ve messed up a few things in my life—I reckon you can tell by my being married and divorced already that young—but I didn’t mess up the mama job and I’m proud of that.
What’s the one trait you hate most about yourself?
Sometimes I act like I’m everybody’s mama. I tell myself I need to stop trying to take care of everybody and solve all their problems, and other people tell me that, too. But I keep doing it.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be, and why?
The way I talk. I’ve got this little-girly voice and I’m not a little-girly kind of woman. And I grew up in Boone, North Carolina, so I’ve got the Appalachian kind of Southern accent and I use words that sound hillbilly to some people, like calling my girls young’uns. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not ashamed of where I’m from, but sometimes I wish I sounded more polished. Or that people didn’t think the kind of stereotypical things they do when they hear me talk.
What is the strangest thing you’ve ever had to do, or had happen to you?
It’d have to be the first time I realized I had the Sight. My mama never told me it ran in the family and there I was, looking for our cat that ran off, and I saw her. In my head. Like I went through a kind of tunnel and found her. And then I actually went to the place I saw in that vision and brought Belle home. It seemed wonderful at the time, but Mama told me it was wrong to use the Sight. Life was never quite the same after that.
What quality do you like most in a man/woman, and why?
I like people who are totally themselves, not a fake thing about ’em, even if they’re a little peculiar or too outspoken. After being raised to be a nice Southern lady, I get a kick out of the way some people break a few social rules or just aren’t normal. I’ve got friends who are kind of eccentric, and some who sure don’t beat around the bush.
Do you have a favorite quote? If so, what is it?
“Don’t let one make you one.” My daddy told me that after I beat up a bully who’d knocked my friend down on the playground. The other girls were rooting for me being stronger than this boy, and I was trying to do the right thing, but it really wasn’t.
What haunts you the most?
Being divorced twice before turning thirty. Sometimes I think my second marriage will be in my heart until I die, even though I know it’s over.
What kind of clothes do you like to wear, and why?
Comfortable! I like to be able to move around. I wear shoes can walk in if I get the urge and clothes I can stretch in or sit on the floor in. Half my clothes are workout clothes and they’re not fancy or fashionable, just practical. When I dress up, and it’s not often, it’s to go out dancing, and then I still have to be comfortable. The highest heels I own are one inch and that’s not just because I’m so tall. I don’t want my feet to hurt, or to twist my ankle, which I’ve still done in just those itty bitty heels.
What makes you laugh?
Pure silliness, like my young’uns making faces and being goofy. And if someone has a weird laugh, it cracks me up. I have to laugh, too, even if the joke isn’t funny. Sometimes things just tickle me, too, images that pop into my head, and I can’t explain it to the person I’m talking to. I try to keep the laugh inside when then happens.
What makes you angry?
Meanness. Unfairness. Some part of me still wants to stop that bully.
What do you have in your pockets/purse right now?
In my purse I’ve got: Keys, money, bank cards, phone. Business cards. Little tube of sunscreen. Gotta have it, living in New Mexico. (I’m the whitest white woman on the planet. Typical redhead pigment: none.) Sunglasses. A notepad and a pen. And two little velvet pouches. The dark green one holds my crystals that are ready for me to use for psychic or healing work. The brown one is for the ones I need to bathe in sunlight or salt water to rebalance them after I use them.
What book are you reading?
Gulp, by Mary Roach. I love science and stuff about the human body. I enjoyed my anatomy textbook. And I’m always reading my guides to insects and reptiles, looking up critters I see when I’m out running. I like a lot of things other people find icky, which is why I love Mary Roach’s books.
What’s your job and why do you do it?
I’m a personal trainer and group fitness instructor. My daddy is a coach and my mama is a nurse, so I grew up interested in health and exercise and I love to help people. It’s flexible work, too, so I can make my hours work around school and other obligations. I also work a few hours a week as a psychic and energy healer. That’s not something I ever planned on but I had to honor the gift and use it. Sometimes I’ve put it aside, but someone always finds out and asks me to do it, so I decided for now, I need to find a way to make it fit in my life.
Of what are you most fearful?
Something bad happening to anyone I love.
If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, tell us three things you would do in the time you had left.
Number one: I would take my daddy and boyfriend with me, and I would fly to North Carolina to see my stepdaughters. Number two: I’d spend time outdoors, even if it was the worst weather that ever happened, just so I could see and feel the world one more time. And I know my mama wouldn’t be there, but the third thing I’d do is write her a letter telling her she did okay, really, even if we didn’t get along. I’d tell her I appreciated a lot about how she raised me. I wouldn’t want her to find out I was gone and feel horrible for not speaking to me and think I didn’t forgive her for all the stuff we fought about. Okay, I guess that’s a fourth thing. I’d have to forgive her. Reckon I should work on that now.
AUTHOR BIO
Amber Foxx, author of the award-winning Mae Martin Psychic Mystery Series, has worked professionally in theater, dance, fitness, and academia. She has lived in the Southeast and the Southwest and calls New Mexico home.
You can find Amber here:
Website: http://amberfoxxmysteries.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amber-Foxx/354071328062619
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmberFoxx4 (@AmberFoxx4)
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7554709.Amber_Foxx
Blog: http://amberf.booklikes.com/
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