INTERVIEW WITH KATHY MARESCA

 I’m welcoming Kathy Maresca, Christy Award Finalist author of Porch Music, to the Suspense Sisters!

Kathy, please tell us about your writing journey. How did you get started?

Like so many authors, I started writing stories in elementary school. Later I became a teacher of English, journalism, and drama. Although I had written short fiction, I didn’t begin to write novels until my fifties. It’s never too late.

Please tell us a little about Porch Music (short blurb).

All sixteen-year-old Rose has is what she carries: a pillowcase of clothes, her boyfriend’s unborn child, and a heart full of shame. In the face of 1952’s strict moral code, Seminole matriarch Ma-Ki Ebbing embraces Rose. Ma-Ki, on the fringe of society, clings to her Native American traditions and secrets surrounding her husband’s murder while her adult children are unraveling. The Ebbing women band together, marching through a chorus of grit and grind to unite a family once rendered powerless by a people who invaded their land. Will the tragic death of one of her daughters cause Ma-Ki to identify the villain and embrace Rose’s newfound faith?

 How did you come up with the idea for Porch Music?

I miss the days when life’s demands were simpler. Families and their friends gathered in the evenings to play music and sing. On the porch were guitars, harmonicas, base fiddles, and other instruments. Neighbors would come by to enjoy the singing. I took some of my mother’s memories from that era and incorporated them into the plot.

What do you hope readers take away from Porch Music?

Sometimes uneducated people have incredible gifts. Christianity is about using these gifts to help further the kingdom of God, not about status in a church. Loving God means following the words of Jesus, about loving others and practicing forgiveness.

You include your Seminole heritage in the book. Please tell us more about that, what it means to you, how it’s shaped you.

Growing up, I was aware of my grandmother’s copper-colored skin. My great-grandmother’s skin was brown too. She was a powerhouse, and I painted her strength onto Ma-K’s character. Over the years, I learned how, in their day, they had been bullied and ostracized because of their heritage. My grandmother practiced some Native American folkways, and my mother remembers them well. In her school years, my mother, who is fair-skinned like me, did all she could to protect her younger sister who had bronze skin. Until a few years back, I didn’t know about the prejudice against my mother’s family.

When I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to befriend some members of the Seminole Tribe. I loved watching their ceremonial dances. If I had not had that opportunity, I wouldn’t have been able to write the scene where Ma-Ki dances around the fire. My Seminole friends saw me as white, but I saw them as kin. I was too young to understand the duality, but it is clear to me now.

Your website states you served in the Air Force, at the Academy cadet chapel, and then at a special operations command. Tell us a little about each of these roles in the military.

I was the first woman invited to work at the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel. I quickly learned that being the first woman to do anything in the military would present significant challenges. Misquoting someone famous, I’ll say that it was the best and worst of times. I loved working with the cadets, and I gained a great appreciation for various Protestant denominations as well as the Catholic Church. However, I experienced a lot of harassment from my superiors there. If you have watched the movie “The Six Triple Eight,” then you know a chaplain in the movie wrote an awful letter full of lies and accusations against a woman. I know exactly how she felt, but I was a young enlisted girl and not an officer when a similar letter was written about me. I had no power, and my voice did not count.

When I was transferred to a special ops command, women were not new to my new duty station, Hurlburt Field. Every day had a touch of adventure. Women were not allowed in combat at that time and the Special Operations Command was still a man’s world. We were always “on,” having an awareness of events brewing around the globe that most people knew nothing about. Always ready to deploy, The 1st Special Operations Wing is first on the scene for real world situations. My experience at both The Academy and Hurlburt Field fuels the trilogy I am working on.

How does your military background shape your books?

It affects my books the same way it affects my everyday life. It’s a greater awareness of what lies beneath and beyond news headlines. At every moment, unrest exists, situations that can lead to war. On the battlefield, survivors learn how much inner strength they have. I like to write characters who seem to be weak but gain extraordinary strength when they rely on God for help.

I love it when a book can make the setting almost another character of its own. Tell us how you were able to do that in Porch Music.

The music of the time creates the setting. People often think that the 1950‘s was a time of innocence, but passions ran deep and boundaries were challenged, filtering into the music. Songs like “Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way” and “Slippin’ Around” suggest that innocence was lost. Elvis became popular in the sixties. Teens loved him while adults tried to censor him. Whether in the secular world or in church, music is a coping mechanism for the fictional Ebbing family.

I remember the early 1960’s in Florida. No air-conditioning. Colossal oak trees. Pristine beaches hosted few visitors. Dirt roads. Orange trees were everywhere. I saw cracker-style houses that leaned. Sometimes their wooden exteriors were separating. Often the elevated foundations gave shelter to critters. These houses with both front and back porches have been gone a long time now, making way for stucco and concrete. The houses in my novel are actually metaphors representing the family as well as the community in which they live.

How did becoming a Christy Award finalist affect your writing career?

My debut novel has gained attention, more readers, and I have met wonderful authors and other professionals in the publishing industry. The ECPA is a fabulous organization that offers great opportunities for writers. I am hoping the Christy nomination will open doors when my agent markets my work.

What other awards have you earned?

2023 Pencraft Awards, 1st place, Historical Christian Fiction
2023 Military Writers Society of America, Gold Ribbon, Literary Fiction
2023 Christy Awards, Finalist, Debut Novel
2023 Carol Awards, Semifinalist, American Christian Fiction Writers, Debut Novel
2022 Southern Christian Writers’ Notable Book Award, 1st place, Traditionally published fiction

 Tell us about your upcoming books.

My second novel, Sky Kiss, is waiting for me to tweak it a bit. It is a second chance romance trope, the first book in a trilogy that features a strong special operations woman as the main character. The first book features a fictional character who serves at the Air Force Academy and then Hurlburt Field. Sound familiar? I wove plenty of truth into the fictional story about an enlisted woman. The second book in the trilogy features a woman who is a special ops pilot. As a counselor, I like to delve into a character’s psyche, and this technique incorporates elements of women’s fiction. I am not writing action novels, but I am creating characters who are involved in the machinations of the Air Force and it mission.

How do we get a copy of Porch Music?

Did I mention that my publisher went under? I could see the writing on the wall last spring, so I ordered a supply of paperbacks. Signed copies can be purchased on my website, KathyMaresca.com. The audiobook is also available where e-books are sold. It has three talented narrators. One is a Native American playwright and actor. Another lady is sassy and Southern. The gentleman is from South Florida, and he also grew up with members of the Seminole Tribe. If someone is going to listen to Porch Music, though, I recommend getting the family tree from my website. It’s a big family.

About Kathy:

A native Floridian, Kathy Gilbert Maresca grew up with a grandmother of Seminole heritage. Kathy served in the Air Force, at the Academy cadet chapel and then at a special operations command. She edited for the University of Florida and taught English, journalism, and drama. Kathy later earned a master’s degree and became credentialed as a rehabilitation counselor, helping people who have cranial nerve disorders. Kathy has been a Guardian ad Litem and a volunteer for a prison fellowship ministry. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, Keith. They enjoy traveling and rescuing little dogs.