THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 7, 1996 TAG: 9607040258
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 164 lines
THE LICENSE PLATE on MaryAnne Gleason's car says it all: NOVEL-1.
After 10 years of trying. After already completing six novels of romance and suspense, the 52-year-old Johnstown Road resident has finally published her first novel, ``Forbidden Obsession,'' a mystery romance thriller set in Norfolk's Ghent section.
The book, which deals with a murder, a deadly stalker and love between a woman and a Catholic priest, was recently released to all major book stores by Cascade Books, a division of the New York-based Ocean Publications.
Gleason, a third-grade teacher at Tallwood Elementary School in Virginia Beach, said her breakthrough came only after years of writing, and sending manuscripts to every publisher she could find.
Her dogged perseverance came from the support she received from her husband, Michael, a mortgage banker with Inland Mortgage; her 14-year-old daughter, Jennifer, soon to be a Hickory High School student; her 25-year-old son, Ryan, who owns a gym in Norfolk; and the Chesapeake Romance Writers, a group of published and unpublished writers who meet monthly at the Russell Memorial Library in Western Branch.
Ocean Publications offered Gleason a contract for two books. The second, ``Shattered Image,'' another suspense novel set in Italy, should be published around the first of the year.
Now her car's license plate is true to the fact.
Although Gleason said she is thrilled she's finally been published, her real feelings could be summed up in one word: Finally!
``We finally found out they accepted my books last October, November,'' Gleason said from her living room, decorated with a framed poster of a handbill from her all-time favorite novel and film, ``Gone With the Wind.''
``Let me tell you it was such an exhilarating feeling,'' she said. ``But I wasn't convinced until I had the actual published book in my hand.''
Gleason, a 24-year teaching veteran, said her third-grade students were inspired by the book's release.
``They were so thrilled they all started writing books,'' she said. ``Anything to get my students to write is fine with me. Even if it's my own publishing success.''
But Gleason said the biggest feeling of accomplishment wasn't when ``Forbidden Obsession'' was finally published.
It was when she finished writing her first book almost a decade ago.
``When you finally finish that first novel, no matter if it's published or not, now that's a success,'' she said. ``With that you've already done something most people NEVER do. Being able to type in that last word of the last sentence in your first novel is equal to, if not surpassing, in satisfaction to being published.''
``Forbidden Obsession'' was her fifth novel. She still considers the first one a very important work.
``I had always written in the past, mainly poetry for myself,'' she said. ``I always wanted to write a novel but the idea of writing a 350 page book seemed overwhelming to me.
``But when I started I just looked at it as writing one page at a time. I wrote my first novel in long hand, and after a while things just started to flow, and I wrote more than a page a day. After I completed it I knew I could finally do it, and I knew I could write more novels.''
Gleason said it was the author of her favorite book that spurred her on.
``Margaret Mitchell inspired me to write that first novel,'' she said. ``When I found out that it took her more than 10 years to write `Gone With the Wind' and that it was rejected by many publishers before it finally came out, I knew I had to try.''
A native of Brooklyn who grew up in Long Island, Gleason said a friend first got her interested in writing.
``When I was a teen, about 14 or 15, I had a friend who loved writing stories,'' she said. ``And I loved reading them, and we loved talking about the stories. In fact, I enjoyed those stories so much that I began to write, too.''
But Gleason's love of writing didn't translate into a career. After high school she went on to Elizabethtown College outside of Harrisburg, Pa., where she majored in education.
She taught school briefly in New York and then moved to Newport News. She taught for about six months in Norfolk and finally ended up in the Virginia Beach public school system, where she's been teaching mostly third-graders for the past 24 years.
After Margaret Mitchell, Gleason cites Patricia Cornwell, Dean Koontz, Mary Higgins Clark and Stephen King as her favorite novelists.
``I'm usually too busy with school or writing to read for pleasure,'' she said. ``I usually indulge myself in the summer, though.''
Even though Gleason reads quite a bit of horror from the pens of King and Koontz, she said her own genre is definitely mystery romance.
``Why mystery? I don't know, that's just what I like to write,'' she said. ``I guess I like the mystery of it all. Currently, I'm writing a book that involves reincarnation. It's a mystery about a woman in the present day who is the reincarnation of an Indian from the 1800s.''
When beginning a mystery novel, Gleason said she has the idea and crime all set before she fleshes it out in a novel.
``I know the whole thing before I start,'' she said. ``I begin with a complete synopsis, but as I write things do change, and my characters seem to take on a life all their own. They sometimes do things that seem to surprise me. It's like you're writing down what they are doing, that you're not making anything up. That's truly the best part of writing: watching your characters develop and being so excited about them that you can't wait to get back to your computer to work some more.''
And that's the way to do it, Gleason said. Keep writing. Keep up the work and keep sending in those manuscripts. Rejection is no big deal.
``You just have to keep sending manuscripts over and over again,'' she said. ``You've always got to have something in the mail. You have to keep getting addresses of publishing houses and keep sending your manuscripts.
``You have to remember a rejection from a publisher is not a blanket rejection of your work. It's just one person's opinion. You have to keep at it until your manuscript finds the right person. This is a difficult market to crack. You have to keep at it. It's hard, I know, and you do get discouraged.''
She was able to keep trying and hold her discouragement at bay thanks to her association with the Chesapeake Romance Writers group.
``They are a wonderful network of writers,'' she said. ``Some are published, people like Wendy Haley and my own critique partner Felecia Mason, who has already published several African American-styled romance novels.
``But we are a group open to anyone interested in writing. We get together to share experiences, writing techniques, ways to get published and discuss each other's writing.''
She said Mason, an editor with The Daily Press newspaper who lives in Yorktown, has been invaluable to her. She said they were paired together at a Chesapeake Romance Writer's meeting. They liked each other and had similar interests. Things just clicked between them, Gleason said.
``We send chapters of our books to each other in the mail,'' Gleason said. ``We look at them and critique them honestly. With friends or family, they just say, `It's fine, it's fine.' But with Felecia, although she is now a very good friend, she is very honest and candid. If something doesn't work or doesn't sound right, she won't hesitate to tell me. Her help has been wonderful.''
Now that her first book is published, Gleason's been to several book signings, including appearances at the Barnes & Noble at Virginia Beach and several area B. Dalton and Waldenbooks locations. She's had a good turnout.
``I think much of it has to do with the fact that I set it in Ghent, a place people recognize,'' she said.
The book includes such sites as Waterside, the Freemason Abbey restaurant, Botetourt Street and areas near and around The Hague and Chrysler Museum. She said she visited those places frequently to get the feel of each site. It makes her work more fun.
``My readers love it that I picked Ghent,'' she said. ``Everything in Ghent is so accessible, and I think the Ghent section fits the bill for the type of book I was writing at the time.
``I'm also writing a book that will take place in Virginia Beach, and I plan to set another one in Chesapeake.''
The first review of her book, published in The Roanoke Times & World News, said Gleason's book is a success.
``For those who like this mystery genre of romantic suspense, this book is a hit,'' the paper said.
Because of that first positive review Gleason, traveled last weekend to Roanoke for a book signing at a B. Dalton store there.
She said she has little time to write nowadays.
``Being published validates you, so you really want to get back and start writing,'' she said. ``But they keep you busy with those book signings. Now I have to squeeze my writing in.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
MYSTERY WRITER
MaryAnne Gleason
MaryAnne Gleason's ``Forbidden Obsession'' is a mystery romance
thriller set in Norfolk's Ghent section.
MaryAnne Gleason walks a cobblestone street in Ghent. The book
includes such sites as Freemason Abbey, Botetourt Street and the
Hague.
MaryAnne Gleason relaxes at a home in Ghent, the setting of her new
mystery novel.
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW by CNB