Maria Piork was born in Santiago, Chile and her family migrated to the United States in 1979 settling in Queens, New York.
When Maria began writing she was barely eleven years old and back then she mostly wrote poems and news articles, stories that were heavily influenced by the lives of family and friends. As she grew older, she discovered an affinity for romance a discovery that propelled her write love stories prolifically. Unfortunately, none of this early work ever saw the light of a publisher’s desk.
As the years went by Maria continued to write, but her writing would soon take a back seat to raising a family. Consequently in 1995, Maria, her husband and two children made a cross country move relocating to Phoenix, Arizona. In 2002 Maria’s love for writing would flourish yet again when a neighbor, a published author encouraged her to take up writing again and to this time see it through. Fast forwarding to today and Maria is now sharing her passion for writing with a worldwide audience.
Maria’s social network is growing daily and she hopes that you will consider visiting her site and her becoming a follower and a fan.
Q & A with Maria Piork
Tell us about yourself. Who is Maria Piork? I’m a highly extroverted person with a quirky sense of humor. I like dancing and exercising and I’m a neat freak. Have two grown kids, two dogs (adopted a second one recently) and a husband of twenty-seven years (in August). Live in Gilbert, Arizona a suburb of Phoenix. I have been writing most of life, but professionally for about five years.
What’s a typical day like for you? Brew coffee, power laptop normally by 6am – Break for breakfast/let the dogs out, back to the laptop – Break for lunch (a walk on the treadmill first), back to the laptop — Break for the 5pm news, have dinner with my husband, back to the laptop – Close down laptop sometime between 9pm-10pm, read if I’m not too tired, turn in. The next day — rinse, repeat 
While writing, what is your favorite snack and/or drink? I’m an anomaly of the human race: I do neither, I do run to the kitchen to get water when I’m thirsty, but I seldom snack and yes, I know I’m weird.
What’s your favorite part of being a writer? The creativity, bringing characters to life, building stories about real people.
Who or what inspires you? I draw inspiration from lots of different sources, most of them from everyday people I interact with, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, etc.
Where do you get your ideas from? Many a time I read an article in a magazine or hear something in the media that catches my attention and I say to myself, “Hmmm, I got to write about that.”
Do you have any guilty pleasures? If so, what are they? I like to read stories on Literotica once/twice weekly.
As a writer, what are your dreams and aspirations? Immediate goals (now-6mos) is to continue writing short story eBooks and self-publishing; short term (6mos-12mos) to write a 10K—15K MS for simultaneous submission to publishing firms; long term (12mos+) to be a ‘contracted’ writer for a publisher.
Paper/Hardbacks or eBooks? Why? My preferences: eBook/paperback. They are cheaper to produce and market, authors can then pass down the savings to the consumer.
If you had to write in any place in the world, where would it be, and why? I’d have to say that it’d be in my own office in my own space, because this is where I’m most comfortable. However, if given the opportunity to go ‘on assignment’ there are two particular U.S. cities I’d love to visit, Juneau, AK, and Hilton Head Island, SC; internationally speaking Cairo, Egypt for sure.
Can you relate to any of your characters? If so, who and how? Hmm, a good question. I’m usually pretty good at distancing myself from the characters because I don’t want to sound like I’m writing about me. That said, however, I can certainly relate to the characters I write about because sometimes they are altered egos of people I know (family/friends). I have not written a series, so I don’t have one particular character I can relate to just yet.
Do you have any upcoming projects? If so, can you share anything with us? Yes, I do. Earlier this year I submitted an incomplete MS to Secret Cravings Publishing for review and it was rejected, BUT was told it held potential, so I’m revising; hope to resubmit before year’s end. Also, I recently answered a Submission Call to Inspired Romance Novels (IRN) and they contacted me back. IRN is interested in one of my stories and I’m revising to resubmit in mid August. I hope to also publish my fourth eBook Captive in the Game by end of August.
Additional comments by Maria: Thank you to ChickLit Goddess for your support and assistance.
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**Click HERE to read my review of “Snowed In!”
Thank your for the review and the LIKEs fellow bloggers. Much appreciarted!
APPRECIATED