Marilyn Peake lives in Virginia with her husband and two children, but she grew up in the woods and the family's three-acre backyard in Pennsylvania where she explored the outdoors and wrote short stories.   Her hobbies include travel and photography.

     She has a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology and has been a Social Worker and Staff Psychologist.

     Marilyn's first children's novel, The Fisherman's Son, is a fantasy adventure for children ages 8 to 12, or for the child in all of us.   Twelve year old Wiley O'Mara is the main character, and Marilyn has agreed to let me talk to him a bit before she tells us about herself.

Bev: Hi Wiley.  What an exciting adventure you had!   When you were traveling through the forest to reach the next town, you heard wolves periodically, and while they were frightening, they never came closer.   You did meet the Beast of the Forest though.  Tell us about the legend of the beast.

Wiley: In the small island village where I live, there was a legend about The Beast in the Forest.   All children were told this tale and warned not to venture into the forest.  When my mother died, I needed to find a priest in the village on the other side of the forest to give my mother a proper burial.  So I went into the forest.  I was very frightened!  And I came across the Beast!  It had sometimes been described as a creature with three eyes.  It turned out that it was a mother bear, and her baby who had lost one eye, probably in a fight.  I had to fight the mother bear.  It was a fight that I will never forget!   

Bev: I was never quite clear about Lucinda.  She is marvelous, but was she real, or just a spirit that touched your imagination? Tell us about her and what you thought when she appeared to you.

Wiley: At times, I thought that Lucinda was just in my imagination.  But she was real.  She gave me a very real golden goblet that I had to show to Elden, the dolphin.  Elden wouldn't meet with me until I showed him the goblet.  I had lost it for awhile in my fight with the bear.  When I first saw Lucinda, I was mesmerized.  I had this feeling that I was dreaming.  But Lucinda helped me so much!  She cured my pain and tiredness by waving her golden wand over me.  Then she led me to the oval lake, gave me the golden goblet, and told me to drink.  The lake water had healing powers!  I felt very thankful to Lucinda, and desperately worried when she disappeared.  I was very happy to see her again, later on in my adventures!  

Bev: Tell me how it feels to ride underwater on the back of a dolphin.  What fun!
 
Wiley: It's incredibly fun!  Elden's back is smooth and comfortable.  And he's a magical dolphin!  When I travel with Elden: my vision becomes more clear and intense, I can communicate with Elden by thought alone, and I can withstand the terrible weight of the ocean even at its lowest depths.  I've also been able to see an ancient city under the ocean as it once existed above land, through a kind of time warp that Elden is able to create. 

Bev: How did Elden keep the underwater air bubble replenished to protect the children who lived within it?
 
Wiley: I don't know.  I think it may have something to do with his friend, Beluga the whale.  But Elden's never shared that information with me.  All I know is that the air bubble is very powerful.  It kept six boys alive in an ancient city under the sea for thousands of years.

Bev: I think my readers would like to know what happened next. Are you and Marilyn planning to tell about any of your other adventures?

Wiley: Yes.  Marilyn's been very busy lately, recording more of my adventures in a sequel to The Fisherman's Son.  She told me that my adventures were so interesting and so extensive that she will have to write at least a trilogy to record them all.  Right now, she's telling the story about the days when I first rescued the six boys and brought them to my home.  We tried to keep their existence quiet from the people in my village.  Marilyn just finished writing about a funny thing that happened during that time.  The boys wore togas and tunics from their time period thousands of years earlier.  This was not acceptable clothing in my village, and people in my village didn't like anyone who was different.  We ran into Mrs. Bannon when no one else knew about the boys, and she saw some of them dressed in their togas and tunics!  I quickly made up a story that the boys were visiting and were dressed for a Church play.  Mrs. Bannon accepted the story!  We were so relieved! 

Bev: Marilyn, thanks for letting me visit with Wiley. He is such a refreshing character!  Could you tell us about developing the idea for The Fisherman's Son.
 
Marilyn: I'm glad you visited with Wiley.  I really like him!  I started out by wanting to write a story for children.  I decided to write a story about a boy and a beach.  From there, I came up with the idea about an island, a boy whose father was a fisherman, a harsh climate.  I wanted lots of adventure in the story.  The adventure just grew as I wrote.  Eventually, I came up with the idea of a rich, cultured city under the ocean with six trapped boys who Wiley needed to rescue.

Bev: What about Wiley?  How did you come up with this character?
 
Marilyn: I wanted the hero to be a young boy so that children could identify with him.  As I wrote about the harsh conditions under which he lived, it came to me that he would be small for his age and somewhat pale (although he would have freckles).  As I developed Wiley and his adventures, I came to realize more and more that he was a good boy who could always be counted on to do the right thing.  I realized that he was truly a "reluctant hero" - Wiley didn't want to be a hero for fame or glory; he was often frightened by the challenges placed before him; but he always succeeded because he was driven to do the right thing.      

Bev: Marilyn, you have a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology, and have worked in that field in a variety of settings.  How does that influence your writing?
 
Marilyn: My background in psychology has been very helpful in answering questions about what a character might do in a particular situation.  For instance, when Wiley was frightened, I had to ask myself: how would a person realistically react?  Sometimes people go into denial; sometimes they face a frightening situation head on.  I tried to develop that in The Fisherman's Son.  Also, people with different personalities and different psychological problems act in unique ways.  I try to keep this in mind when developing a character.  I try to keep each individual character true to themselves, and to allow situations to change them only in ways that would be most likely for them to change.  

Bev: Have any other authors been an inspiration to you?  

Marilyn: Definitely.  One of my favorite authors is Barbara Kingsolver, especially in her book The Poisonwood Bible.  Another one of my favorite authors is Michael Crichton.  When I was in college, some of my favorite authors were John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut, and Hermann Hesse.  I recently read an incredible book, Encounter With Tiber written by the Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin with the science fiction novelist John Barnes.

Bev: What did you most enjoy reading as a child? Who is your favorite author now?

Marilyn: As a young child, I enjoyed reading Dr. Seuss books.  When I was somewhat older, I liked the Nancy Drew mystery books.  Right now, my favorite authors are Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Crichton.
 

Bev: Writing for children is so challenging!  Do you try your stories out on children as you are writing them, or do you rely on the child in you to test the story?
 
Marilyn: At first, I rely on the child within me.  After I completed The Fisherman's Son, I asked my older son to read it, and my younger son to listen to the book.  When they both loved it, I was so relieved!  I then asked children in my neighborhood to read The Fisherman's Son.  When I got positive reactions from neighborhood children, I was very happy.  After all, I want my books to be enjoyed by the audience for whom I write them! 

Bev: I love the cover of The Fisherman's Son.  What is the story behind that?

Marilyn: 1st Books Library, the publisher of The Fisherman's Son, was great to work with in designing the cover!  I was able to suggest possible cover ideas, and the publisher worked to include them in the design.  I wanted most of all to have a picture of a dolphin jumping out of the ocean on the front cover.  I think that 1st Books Library did an incredible job with the picture of the two dolphins, the ocean, and the sun!  I was very happy with the cover!

Bev: Have you written other stories, or any nonfiction?  What do you have in the works now?

Marilyn: I've actually been writing novels for 14 years, although The Fisherman's Son is my first published novel.  Before writing The Fisherman's Son, I wrote an adult political thriller about biological weapons of mass destruction.  That book was picked up by an agent, and was in the hands of a publisher when September 11 hit.  The novel was then turned down.  Because I knew that novels on my subject were not wanted at that time and because I had come so far in the field of publishing, I decided not to give up.  I then wrote The Fisherman's Son within six months.  Writing a children's novel turned out to be a great experience for me!  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  After I complete The Fisherman's Son trilogy, I may write an adult novel.  I've started a science fiction novel about the first manned trip to Mars in which a great many things go wrong.  I love science fiction, and hope to complete that novel.

Bev: How do you balance your writing and research with the rest of your life?
 
Marilyn: That's a great question!  It's very difficult!  I find I need to let one thing slide, then another.  It's like juggling many balls in the air.  But, after writing for so many years, I finally realized that I enjoy writing so much, I always go back to it.  Once I gave up the idea of a very strict writing schedule, I discovered that I actually wrote more often, and more pages, that way.  I was less intimidated by the number of hours required to write a novel.

Bev: Tell us about your experiences in marketing your book.
 
Marilyn: It's been an incredible learning experience with an incredible learning curve.  At first, I paid for ads.  Then I discovered the internet!  There are an amazing number of places to promote a book on the internet, for free or for a fraction of the cost of other advertisements.  I discovered that it's very important to obtain reviews.  If the reviews are good, as all of the reviews of The Fisherman's Son have been, marketing becomes so much easier.  Suddenly, more people are interested in the book.  I also joined The Combined Book Exhibit which displays independently published books at book fairs.  Through The Combined Book Exhibit, The Fisherman's Son was displayed at Book Expo America, and will be displayed at the 2003 Frankfurt Book Fair.  I also signed up with "Radio-TV Interview Report."  RTIR designed an incredible ad for me which has led to radio interviews.  Finally, I discovered that a web site is very important for marketing.  My web site can be accessed through any of the following domain names: www.marilynpeake.com, www.thefishermansson.com, and www.fishermansson.com.

Bev: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
 
Marilyn: To never give up!  If one approach doesn't work, try another.  Seek information about writing and marketing everywhere it's available.  It's also important to realize that, after a book is written and published, it needs to be marketed.  There are many great books that don't sell because the author doesn't realize that it has to be brought before the public before it will sell.  

Bev: Marilyn, do you have any other thoughts you would like to share with us?
 
Marilyn: Only that I thoroughly enjoyed this interview!  It was a great deal of fun for both me and Wiley!

Bev:  Thank you so much for allowing me to ask you and Wiley all about The Fisherman's Son.  We wish you the best in your writing career, and we are looking forward to the further adventures of Wiley O'Mara.