Welcome Women's Fiction writer, Mary Elizabeth Coen...

Hi, Elizabeth! I am thrilled to have you here and eager to know more about you and your book. When I signed up to be a part of your tour, your book immediately caught my interest and I downloaded a copy. I love stories about self-discovery, spirituality and finding your own way. I look forward to reading Love & The Goddess and will let you know my thoughts as soon as I finish. Okay, let's get started!

1.    What do you wish men understood about women?

I wish men understood that women cannot and do not wish to be controlled. We like to be equal partners in a loving relationship.

Despite the appearance of macho bare - chested men on billboards and book covers, appearance is not the most important thing. Women generally rate other qualities higher such as sense of humour, loyalty and kindness.

2.    Do you only work on one book at a time?

Mostly yes, but presently I am working on a novel and simultaneously working on a short self help book with an older friend who has had a very interesting life. Peggy gives me the concepts and I develop them in between visits to see her in the nursing home she resides in.

Meanwhile I spend most of my writing time on my new novel set in the fashion world.

3.    Who is your favorite fictional couple?

Jane Eyre & Mr. Rochester. It was the first classic I ever read and I love how the characters are developed throughout the story.

4.    Do you have a favorite quote that sums up how you feel about life?

Live fully in the present moment – The past is over and our future depends on our thoughts and actions in the present. Great creativity and healing come about when we are fully present and live in the NOW.

 5.    Do you set daily writing goals? Word count? Number of chapters? Do you get a chance to write every day?

 I plan to do three hours a day with hopefully a one thousand word count but it doesn’t always happen.

I also work as a Life coach and motivational speaker. Speaking engagements take me away from home and demand a lot of advance preparation but I need to pay my mortgage so cannot write full time.

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6.  What do you like better, Twitter or Facebook? Why?

Twitter. I have made great contacts with other indie authors via Twitter and I find the support incredible, especially during book promotions. The banter on Twitter can sometimes be great fun and run very late into the night as many of my followers live on the other side of the Atlantic. I have connected with very talented and courageous people who do amazing things and write wonderful books.

7.    What are you working on now?

Another novel; this time it is set in the fashion world. It also has a goddess theme.

Touted in the press as ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ meets ‘Sex and the City’.

A woman’s voyage of self discovery begins on the internet leading all the way to Brazil and onto the Andean highlands of Peru.

Devastated from her relationship break- up, Kate Canavan is at a loss until she re-discovers a hidden painting of the triple Goddess from Greek mythology. Her interest in mythology and spirituality is re-ignited. A voyage of self discovery begins with internet dating using the names of each of the Goddesses in the triple myth.

When a health scare intervenes Kate and her friends go together to visit a famous healer in Brazil and a spiritual guru in Peru, where all three friends begin spiritual journeys of forgiveness, gratitude and learning to live in the now. But does Kate find love along the way?

Ferdia Mac Anna (author of cult book to movie Last of the high Kings) says:-

"Funny, informative heart-warming and wildly entertaining. This novel takes the reader on an exhilarating roller-coaster ride though modern romance, internet dating, Peruvian Gurus, wannabes, has-beens and lotharios and brings them home safe and almost sound. This book rocks!'

Watch the book trailer  http://tinyurl.com/ouas7hx

Excerpt from Love & the Goddess

The final email was from “the diver”, another businessman. He didn’t have a photograph but his message captured my interest and aroused my curiosity.

Hi Persephone, Toot… toot! Hoot… hoot! What a foxy red head you are and you sound like a gal who knows what she wants out a life! Fair play, I’m all for a gal who knows her mind and seduces me with her brain as well as… oh you know! Why call yourself Persephone, when you’ve got the body and tresses of Botticelli’s Venus lol? With your Taekwondo, scuba diving and interest in Incan and Mayan civilizations, I can picture you as a female Indiana Jones. Better than tomb raider any day, I say! Definitely with that red hair, you’d put me in my place… quaking in my boots while hot under the collar lol! No seriously… you demand respect, even from a messer like me! If you want to get in touch send me your phone number and we can arrange to chat. Steve

I wrote back to Steve asking him had he a photograph. I was more interested in

“Elmtree” aka Ray, yet decided not to invest too much hope in him after my previous two experiences. If everything worked out, I could meet him the coming Friday. Meanwhile I was in a mood for experimenting, so two days later I agreed to meet “the diver”, Steve. We had spoken on the phone and he told me he was a representative for a company fitting aluminium windows. I asked for a photograph, and he sent one right back. He was rugged looking with heavy facial furniture, a rather large nose, heavy jowls and a thin line for a mouth. Not exactly my type, but I was sure a lot of women would find him attractive. I found his humour hilarious, even if his hooting and tooting sounded more like a siren call for Jessica Rabbit. No matter, I needed a good laugh. Emails went to and fro and I agreed to a lunch date rather than risk another evening fiasco.

I was beginning to see this as Ella had suggested, “an exercise in dusting off my disused dating skills.” Smirking to myself, I decided to call her and fill her in on my progress.

“Same as you, lovey. I’m in need of a laugh and an ego boost so I’ve two dates arranged for today. First a lunch date and then meeting another guy for coffee at four.” We agreed to keep in touch throughout the day and meet up later to discuss the dates. I felt like a woman on a mission, preparing to take note of all the details to report back to HQ afterwards. It added to the excitement, that feeling of being an intrepid reporter working undercover.

In the Meyrick Hotel foyer, at a table to the right of the central table, which was adorned with a huge floral arrangement, Steve sat folding papers into a briefcase. I recognised him immediately. Hmm, not bad looking, although a little older than his photograph (I was beginning to think that was par for the course) and somewhat untidy, with shirt buttons straining over his mid-section.

He looked up. “Kate?” His eyes took me in. “Hey, you look great! Know something? I’m not very hungry. How about you?”

“I could eat the legs from under the table. I’ll get weak if I don’t eat something soon.” The aroma of garlic, tomatoes and peanut soy sauce wafted past him and my stomach grumbled.

“Yeah?” He looked disappointed. “I suppose you can get some bar food.” He ushered me towards the bar, where the barman came over and handed each of us a menu. I searched for the choice most resembling the aroma that had greeted me.

“Just a glass of wine, please,” Steve said to the barman.

“I’ll have the chicken satay and a bottle of still water, please.”

When the barman left, Steve turned to me asking: “Is there a problem with the drinking water in Galway at the moment?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“I always drink tap water.” His face changed from concerned to animated as he launched into the conversation with: “Well, Kate, we’ve certainly had great chemistry with the banter in our emails! It’s been fun! You have to have a sense of humour otherwise life could really get you down!”

“Yes, you’re very humorous…”

“Now, I want to be open and honest with you from the start, so I need to tell you a few things. How are you with that?”

“Absolutely. I agree one hundred per cent. Honesty all the way.” I put on a chirpy voice to deflect from my sudden sinking feeling.

“First, I have to tell you a bit about me. My wife and I didn’t have sex for the last eight years of our marriage. Now I’m not going to crib about her because she’s a lovely woman, but that’s very hard for any man to put up with. And I remained faithful to her while some of my buddies were off having affairs. But I respect women and I didn’t do that to her, even though she often came to bed with her hair in rollers and would turn her back on me for fear I’d suggest anything.” Too much information and this from the person I’d expected to entertain me with his mad-cap humour. I was embarrassed and confused. Nothing seemed to add up.

“I can understand that was difficult for you.” Was that what I was supposed to say?

The waiter arrived with drinks and lunch. The chicken satay came on four skewers and was served with french fries. I was ravenous. “Would you like some?” I pushed my plate towards Steve. Without any hesitation he helped himself to a skewer of chicken, continuing to talk as he did so.

“Now, I was good to my wife in every way and in fact I still do more than my share of parenting, though the kids are fairly independent at eighteen, nineteen and twenty one years old.” He fiddled with the skewer, his eyes transfixed on the remaining two cubes of chicken as though he were forensically examining them. Why was he prattling on in such a defensive manner, unable to make eye contact?

“How long are you divorced?”

He launched back into chewing the chicken from the skewer. “Just separated six months.” His mouth was full as he spoke. “Now the point is, I’m very attracted to you but I could never enter into another relationship like the one with my wife. Do you understand?” He grabbed a handful of French fries and tossed them in his open mouth. What a barbarian! What had happened to his inimitable sense of humour? I was beginning to find him common and coarse. Was he unaware he was wolfing down my lunch? The lunch he didn’t want? I was annoyed that he presumed I would consider a relationship with him. His other hand sneaked towards a second skewer of chicken. I moved my plate away from him.

“It’s seems a bit early to be thinking about you and I starting a relationship – you live quite a distance away and we’ve only just met.”

“Yeah…” He stuffed down another handful of my French fries. “But I would need to know right from the beginning that the relationship would include sex. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand – but it’s a bit early. We don’t know if we even like each other yet.” I signalled to the waiter. “Could you please bring me another portion of chicken satay?”

“Certainly, madam. Will there be anything else?”

“Not just now, thank you…”

“Do you eat this much all the time?” Steve asked. Before I could answer, his phone rang. He pulled it out of his shirt pocket and looked at the screen. “Excuse me. I need to answer this.” He got up to walk out of the bar.

While he was gone, I checked my phone. A message from Ella read: “Just met Mr Loves Himself.”

“Eejit here just ate my lunch,” I texted back.

“Make him pay. This guy runs 5 miles & cycles 8 miles a day!”

I acknowledged the waiter as he delivered a second plate of satay, then resumed texting: “Forget him. No time for a woman!”

“Yep. haf 2 go.”

Steve arrived back and slid in beside me, nonchalantly helping himself to another full skewer. “Kate. Of course we’d get on great,” he said, again with his mouth full. “I just have to have this issue out in the open before I get involved with you. I’m a very giving person and I wouldn’t like to be taken for a fool.”

I looked at him, stuck for words. Then cleared my throat. “To be honest, I find this line of conversation a bit over the top. You have no guarantees with any relationship that you will get every aspect right. I’m sure some women have similar complaints about men.”

“Exactly my point.” Glancing at his mobile phone, Steve assumed a harried expression: “I need to leave for a meeting. Phone me when you’ve thought all this through. Maybe next time we could meet in the evening?”

Stealing the final skewer of chicken, he vanished before I had a chance to comment. Flabbergasted, I sank back into my seat, feeling the wind had been knocked right out of me. Calling over the waiter I asked for the bill along with a stiff brandy. I felt I needed it.

About the Author

Living in Ireland, Mary Elizabeth Coen is a former Home Economics teacher and lifestyle journalist.

Though she always dreamed of being a writer, Mary Elizabeth took a rather circuitous route getting there. You could say she has had several incarnations in this lifetime from Home Economics teacher to Fashion Editor of a magazine, along with being mother to three wonderful children, Mark, Janet and Emily. Due to demand from clients she opened her own PR consultancy firm specializing in fashion; - the dream job for a fashionista, availing of great discounts on wonderful shoes and vintage clothing.

Unfortunately the five inch stilettos had to go when Mary’s health deteriorated and she received a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Work too, had to take a back seat as Mary sought to maintain optimum health and became interested in holistic medicine and personal development. In the process, she developed a passion for mythology, philosophy and the study of ancient spiritual traditions. As a spiritual seeker, she travelled to Mayan sites in Mexico, visited a famous healer’s ashram in Brazil and undertook a shamanic journey through Peru.  Mary’s book Love & the Goddess is based on her travels.

Mary is now in robust good health, working as a full-time author and stress management lecturer, while also running a website called Goddess MECA. The acronym is for Mary Elizabeth Coen Assists the Goddess in everywoman through sharing her love of cookery fashion and mythology. Mary brings her experience from teaching, using tools that are practical and easily integrated into every day busy lives. Her clients range from private individuals, to SMEs, to large organisations and bodies.

Author & Book Links

FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/goddessmeca -

PERSONAL FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/maryelizacoen

WEBSITE http://www.goddessmeca.com

BLOG link - http://www.goddessmeca.com/blog/

AMAZON PAGES _http://tinyurl.com/pmhmav9 - Amazon page tiny url

General amazon linking to all sites - http://bookShow.me/B00BCKMXRA

TWITTER - https://twitter.com/goddessmeca - twitter

PINTEREST -http://www.pinterest.com/goddessmeca/boards/

GOODREADS –

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6998326.Mary_Elizabeth_Coen

The giveaway overall on this tour is 3 x signed paperback copies of Love & The Goddess.

Rafflecopter code http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/cc6f9460/

* NEWS FLASH*

If you buy a copy of Love & The Goddess while it’s touring and post a review to Amazon and Goodreads, email links of the reviews to fictionaddiction.booktours@gmail.com to be entered into a draw to win a Kindle Fire.  Closing date 28th February 2014.

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