Your Next Favorite Author–Terry Segan!

One sarcastic ghost, a stolen treasure, and a moody sibling—what’s not to love about this sister-bonding trip?

Marni Legend has embarked on the most perilous journey of her life—a vacation with her sister. The women are like two peas in a pod, providing each pod came from a different mother ship. One day into their Florida adventure, Marni questions her choice of travel partner. Gloria strives to understand her carefree younger sibling while kayaking and snorkeling without chipping a nail.

With nothing but eternity on his hands, Phil insists the sisters resolve the circumstances of his untimely demise. The wise-cracking spirit leads them on a trail filled with bartenders, bikers, and the promise of a hidden treasure.

Her greatest challenge will either be enduring a week with Gloria or surviving the thugs searching for the stolen booty. Can Marni figure out who to trust, who to avoid, and who she’d most likely want to be trapped alone in an elevator with?

Terry Segan, originally from Commack, NY, now resides in the desert where she’ll never require an ice scraper or snow shovel again. The beach is her happy place, but any opportunity to travel soothes her gypsy soul. The stories conjured by her imagination while riding backseat on her husband’s motorcycle can be found throughout the pages of her paranormal mysteries. Growing up immersed in sarcastic humor and science fiction movies, Terry’s goals are to cause her readers to laugh out loud, cry with joy, or cower under the covers wondering if the noise under the bed was real or imagined.

Avis: Welcome readers and lovers of books to another edition of Your Next Favorite Author! Today my guest is Terry Segan! I’m so excited to have her back, and I know you are going to love her next novel, Manatee Soul!

            Without further ado, let’s get to the first question!

What did you learn writing your first book that helped you write your subsequent books?

Terry: You don’t have to know where the story will go when you first begin writing the book. I am very much a pantser, who has no clue where my characters will lead me. While I may have an inkling of the final chapter, there isn’t a well-laid out plan as to how I’ll get there. Once I’d settled into the reality of what my true writing style entailed, I could breathe easy knowing this is how I work best, and it will all work out in the end—well, for some of the characters anyway.

Avis: Well, Terry, you have several successful novels in publication that can attest to that! I didn’t know that your style leaned so heavily toward pantser, though! The finished story is so tight, and all the plot points flow perfectly! Kudos. 😊

            Now on to question number two:

How did you decide on a manatee ghost of all things!? Does it have significance for you, and how is it significant to the story?

Terry: The location I chose, Crystal River, Florida, is the winter home for many manatees. In the winter months, especially December and January, these beautiful creatures flock to the warm waters of the river. It’s a huge tourist draw. A couple years ago, I went on a girls’ trip in January, where we actually snorkeled with the manatees. We also kayaked near one of their sanctuaries and were surrounded by several of them. I thought Crystal River would be a great location to set my second Marni Legend book and wanted a spirit manatee as one of the characters.

Avis: Sounds like a wonderful place to visit in the winter! what a great way to combine your writing/creative life with your travel. I know it’s something you are known for. How cool!

            It’s time for question number three!

This is book two in this series. What are the connections between your books that create significant links?

Terry: 

The characters are the main connection. Location isn’t as much of a factor. Marni Legend will always be in the driver’s seat throughout this series—buckle up! Manatee Soul has her sister, Gloria, playing a main part as well. In the first book, Spirit in Tow, she and her sister interacted throughout the book, but the main plot focused around Marni. In this book, the two share the limelight, while the story is still told from Marni’s perspective. I’ve always enjoyed reading a series where common characters are woven throughout the stories but aren’t in every book, or they may play a minor role in one book and take a lead in another.

Avis: I like a series that introduces new characters to support the main protagonist as well! Marni is such a great character! I’d follow her to wherever she goes next. 😊

            How about question number four!

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

Terry: I prefer to create original stories. Attempting to deliver only what readers want because of what books are popular this week would be too exhausting (and my crystal ball is faulty). The stories I write are ones I like to read from other authors. To force a certain style that doesn’t come naturally to me would eliminate the fun I have writing. My imagination runs wild whenever I sit at my computer, and I don’t want to lose that enthusiasm.

Avis: I agree with everything you just said! Writing the story you have to write and being excited to sit down and create is the best, right?! I guess that’s what happens when you love to write just to write, and in your novels that love shines through. 😊

            This is our final question! Are you ready?

If you could tell your younger writing-self anything, what would it be?

Terry: Start writing now! I didn’t begin writing seriously until about fifteen years ago. I published my first book in 2018 while in my mid-fifties. There are so many stories wandering around my head that I wish I had begun sooner. Whenever I complete one, I have multiple storylines to choose from for my next book. With the number of ideas I have, I’ll need to live a couple of centuries to get them all written. 

Avis: Well maybe you can come back and let Marni help you write those stories! I wish Marni really existed. 😊 What a wonderful interview and thank you so much, Terry, for joining us again for another edition of Your Next Favorite Author! It’s so fun to learn more about you and your writing life!

            For a review of Terry Segan’s Manatee Soul, please scroll down! Readers will find links to Segan’s social links below. Happy reading my friends!

SOCIALS

Author Website: https://terrysegan.com/

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/AuthorTerrySegan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrysegan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeganTerry

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorterrysegan

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Terry-Segan/e/B087YQGXMD

Review by Avis M. Adams

Marni Legend is at it again in Terry Segan’s newest release in the Marni Legend Series, Manatee Soul. Two sisters head out on a trip to Florida for a sisters’ weekend, but they find more in Crystal River than kayaking and lounging by the pool. They find Phil, or should I say Phil finds them.

This time Marni’s sister Gloria is in charge, and she gets double duty when the spirit of Phil shows up with the spirit of Rosy, a very large, very dead manatee spirit. Phil found her injured by a boat propellor and nursed back to health, and she returned the favor by trying to save him from murderers. 

            What the authorities took as an accidental drowning, Gloria and Marnie learn was anything but an accident. There is only one problem, Gloria. She’s avoided spirits from childhood, and where Marni is compelled to aid and assist spirits, solving their mysteries so they can pass over, Gloria doesn’t share that sentiment at all, especially when Phil shows up behind her on purpose to scare the “you-know-what” out of her. Gloria and Phil fight like an old married couple, while Marni is left to put together the pieces of Phil’s untimely death and the death of Rosy.

            Add to the mix one handsome biker and all around bad-boy, Dodger or Maxwell Dugan, and Marni has her hands full. But can she trust Max? Who is this handsome biker and what does he see in Marni, a way to recover the lost treasure from the Sunset Dream? And why is Rosy hanging around? Something smells fishy in Crystal River.

Segan builds a complicated Florida wonderland with sunken treasure, beautiful beaches, open air bars, and a cast of characters that will entertain, amuse, and give you pause, as she leads Marni on another adventure while trying to help a lost soul cross over. Manatee Soul will take you into the seamy belly of black-market treasure hunters who will do anything for the gold. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat laughing from Phil’s antics and biting your nails for Marni’s safety. Book two in the Marni Legend series does not disappoint! Five-stars!