Meet your Neighbour: Mallory McCartney; pet groomer turned author!

Fantasy author, Mallory McCartney (Source: Mallory McCartney)

London, Ont. — At one time, Mallory McCartney could be found grooming pets professionally. Her recent diagnosis of Fibromyalgia meant shortening her work day, but luckily for her readers, her writing continued.

Leaving one career for another can be daunting, but when it's trading one passion for another, she felt it was worth trying. McCartney tried…and succeeded.

"I have always been passionate about reading. I fell in love with the fantasy genre first, avidly reading anything I could get my hands on, but Tamora Pierce and Christopher Paolini were my first favourite authors in the genre," recalls McCartney.

Reading and writing in her spare time, it wasn’t until 2016 that McCartney began to pursue a career as an author.

Her genre? Dark Epic Fantasy, which she says she writes because it's what she really loves. Writing in the third person, each chapter encompasses a different main character in order to, "explore the morally grey areas of each main character. No villain becomes a villain without reason, nor does the hero always make the right choices," she explains.

"I find my ideas for my novels always come to me at strange moments - while doing everyday tasks. But building on my ideas and fleshing out my novel I pull a lot of inspiration from music."

Adorned with headphones to help her focus, McCartney listens to a specific playlist and songs for certain scenes or characters.

To date, 'Heir of Lies', 'Queen to Ashes', and the third book in the series, 'Kingdom of Broken Iron', have been published.

Mallory McCartney's first book in her series, Heir of Lies (Source: Mallory McCartney)

Her newest book is the darkest of the three. She recommends reading the first two first as this book picks up where the last one ends.

"Without any spoilers, readers can expect Kingdom of Broken Iron to be one of the darkest books in the series, with a lot of shocking moments that the main characters go through and packed full of action. I really loved writing this book, especially how we will see how Emory and Nyx deal with rising to positions of power."

McCartney's books can be found at various stores including Chapters, Indigo, Barnes and Noble, IndieBound and Book Depository, as well as Amazon online. She even has signed copies at the South London Chapters and Coles in Lambton Mall.

She loves to meet fans of her books. She says, "it's still so surreal to me, even five years in doing signings and connecting with readers. It’s the best feeling in the world to me, it is exciting and humbling. After all the hard work that goes into publishing a book, I think it’s important to take a moment to enjoy seeing your book reach readers and hear with how they connected with the story."

McCartney tells aspiring writers that you can't edit an empty page. Do not overthink the initial draft. Have fun and just start writing. Don't give up on your passion to write or your story to tell.

For more information, you can visit McCartney on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

If you know someone with a story to tell, or you have one to share, email me: [e-mail].