Get to know you Monday--Marie Higgins

Today we are meeting

Marie Higgins, author of Winning Mr. Wrong

1. Where did you grow up? I grew up in Clearfield, Utah, went to school there and graduated. It wasn’t until a year after I married when we moved to Brigham City, Utah, which is where I’ve lived for 23 years now.

2. Is there a book that changed your life? Yes! The very first romance I read was written by Kathleen E Woodiwiss – A Rose In Winter. Although this isn’t a Christian romance, I was still pulled right into the story and couldn’t put it down. I loved her descriptions, and I felt like I was right there in England 1792. I especially loved the twist in the story. From that point on, I wanted to write romance with a twist, and I wanted to put my readers in a historic era as well as Woodiwiss did with me.

3. If you go back in time, where would you go? England in the mid 1800’s. I love to escape to their world. I love the manners and the language…and I love thinking about a Duke for my hero! I love the beautiful gowns the women wore, and the tailored-fit clothes the men wore. I love the dressy look they had as if they were always attending a ball.

4. What is your favorite kind of music? I’m an 80’s girl…but I still love music from the 60’s and 70’s. I love some Classical music, and I will always love Inspirational music.

5. What is your favorite thing about yourself? That I’m a romance writer!!

6. Do you like to sing? Yes, but I’m not as good as I was ten or so years ago. It’s that old age thing…

7. Do you like to dance? Definitely, but my husband doesn’t. Dang! When I was a young girl, my mom taught my brother and sister and I how to dance those dances from the 60’s. Yeah, I can still jitterbug and waltz…just need to find someone to dance with now.

8. Do you play a musical instrument? In junior high and high school I played the clarinet. Then in high school I taught myself how to play the piano, so in my junior year, my parents bought one for us. I still play the piano today, especially in church.

9. Have you ever met a famous person? No, but I have a chance to. One of my favorite singers from the 60’s & 70’s is Engelbert Humperdinck. I’ve even titled some of my romances after his songs. Anyway, a good friend of mine is friends with Engelbert, and her brother can get me tickets to his show in Las Vegas. Well…with any luck my friend’s brother might take me backstage to meet Engelbert. How cool would that be? You know, I’ve always wondered why women cry when they see their favorite singer perform…and I think I just might bawl like a baby myself. It’s because one of my dreams is finally coming true.

10. What is your favorite color? PURPLE! Maybe it started when I was young and had a crush on Donny Osmond. Don’t know…

11. Do you have any celebrity crushes? Oh yes! Gerard Butler, Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp, Patrick Dempsey, Colin Firth…to name a few.

12. Were you named after anyone? My first name, Phyllis, was from my father’s mother – a woman I have never met. My middle name, Marie, was also after a grandmother, but she was a ways back in the generation so I wouldn’t have met her anyway.

13. What are you favorite smells? Lilacs and roses. In fact…when my historical heroines have a scent, the heroes usually smell one of these two scents on them.

14. If you could have a dinner with three people (real of fictitious, dead or alive), who would you choose and why? Well, since I’m always in the fictitious world, the characters I would choose would be Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennett, and … Jane Austen (who wrote Pride & Prejudice). Why? Because this story was written in one of the eras I love to read and write about. And I will always be a fan of Jane Austen. Of course, when I have dinner with Mr. Darcy, he’d better look like Colin Firth!

15. What was the best decision you’ve ever made? To submit my stories to Walnut Spring Press!

Baby Marie

Marie as a toddler

Campbell family 1972
Marie is the cute girl in the green dress

Marie with her siblings

Homecoming dance

Marie and her husband, Scott, 1985

The Higgins' family on their sealing day

Marie with her daughters and grandchildren

WHY I WRITE

Because the characters in my head won't shut up! lol I write because I LOVE romance!!! I love all aspects of romance, and especially, the happily ever after!