The Vineyard by Michael Hurley – Interview, Excerpt, Giveaway

The Vineyard by Michael Hurley

Ten years after college, three very different women reunite for a summer on Martha’s Vineyard. As they come to grips with various challenges in their lives, an encounter with a reclusive fisherman threatens to change everything they believe about their world—and each other.

Amazon

Excerpt One:

Chapter 10

Despite the tumultuous beginning of the season and the clouds in Dory’s future, June in Edgartown was as bright as ever, and the three friends took advantage of every minute of it. There were walks down Main Street on sunny afternoons carrying giant, round mounds of mint-chocolate-chip ice cream, teetering three-high and dribbling down onto sticky fingers before it was licked gone. There were steamed little neck clams with butter sauce and fresh horseradish, served with gin and tonics on the porch of The Crew House, overlooking the harbor, and the good-looking, Italian waiter who worked there. It became Turner’s mission to see how many times she could get him to use the word “Tanqueray” in a sentence, because she liked the way he said it. There were lazy hours lying on the beach by the lighthouse and meandering hunts for the perfect cockleshell, and double-dog dares to go skinny-dipping after dark that always descended into fully-clothed refusals, recriminations, and false accusations of prudery—the truth, however, being that none of them was eager to expose great white bellies bursting with clams and Tanqueray and mint-chocolate-chip ice cream.

© 2014 by M. C. Hurley. All rights reserved.

Fast 5 Interview Questions

1. What is the first curse word that comes to mind? How often and why do you use it?

Damn. I wish I could think of a better answer to this question. Dammit.

2. How would you spend ten thousand bucks?

I could use a new set of sails and a better dinghy for my sailboat.

3. What are 5 things within touching distance?

My Swiss Army watch, a photo of my wife in a silver frame, a stapler, a Kindle Paperwhite, a small camera.

4. What is your favorite Joke?

Heard this one in church: Two nuns in a convenience store. The first one picks up a six pack of beer. The second one says, “Sister, we can’t be seen buying beer in public. What will people think?” The first one says, “Let me handle it.” She puts the beer on the checkout stand and tells the cashier they’re buying it to use in washing their hair. The cashier reaches down and pulls out a bag of pretzels, and puts them next the beer. “Here,” he says. “The curlers are on the house.”

5. Where do you get your best ideas?

From daydreaming when I’m bored and doing nothing or in the last moments before I fall asleep.

About the Author

Michael Hurley and his wife Susan live near Charleston, South Carolina. Born and raised in Baltimore, Michael holds a degree in English from the University of Maryland and law from St. Louis University.

The Prodigal, Michael’s debut novel from Ragbagger Press, received the Somerset Prize for mainstream fiction and numerous accolades in the trade press, including Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, ForeWord Reviews, BookTrib, Chanticleer Reviews, and IndieReader. It is currently in development for a feature film by producer Diane Sillan Isaacs. Michael’s second novel, The Vineyard, is due to be released by Ragbagger Press in December 2014.

Michael’s first book, Letters from the Woods, is a collection of wilderness-themed essays published by Ragbagger Press in 2005. It was shortlisted for Book of the Year by ForeWord magazine. In 2009, Michael embarked on a two-year, 2,200 mile solo sailing voyage that ended with the loss of his 32-foot sloop, the Gypsy Moon, in the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti in 2012. That voyage and the experiences that inspired him to set sail became the subject of his memoir, Once Upon A Gypsy Moon, published in 2013 by Hachette Book Group.

When he is not writing, Michael enjoys reading and relaxing with Susan on the porch of their rambling, one-hundred-year-old house. His fondest pastimes are ocean sailing, playing piano and classical guitar, cooking, and keeping up with an energetic Irish terrier, Frodo Baggins.

Website: http://www.mchurley.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mchurleybooks
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5445584.Michael_C_Hurley

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Related Posts