Author Interview: Zoe M. McCarthy -The Putting Green Whisperer

Welcome to the Celebrate Lit book tour for The Putting Green Whisperer by Zoe M. McCarthy! Check out the Author interview and Giveaway below to celebrate it!

About the Book

Book: The Putting Green Whisperer

Author: Zoe M. McCarthy

Genre: Christian fiction

Release date: 2018

Suddenly unemployed, Allie Masterson returns home to Cary, North Carolina where she caddies for her father on the PGA Seniors Tour. There, she encounters a man who possesses an alluring gift of reading the contours of the green. Fascinated with his uncanny ability, Allie is excited to meet the Green Whisperer—until she discovers that the easygoing caddy is actually Shoo Leonard, the boy who teased her relentlessly when they were kids. Despite Allie’s reservations, she agrees to use her sport science degree to become his trainer when Shoo sustains a hand injury—and then she falls for him. Shoo Leonard is grateful to Allie for her singular determination to get him ready for the PGA tour, but he isn’t ready for anything more. Still raw from a broken engagement and focused on his career, he’s content to be her fist-pumping buddy until the chemistry is undeniable. What seems like a happily-ever-after on the horizon takes a turn when Allie decides she’s become a distraction to Shoo’s career. Is it time for her to step away or can The Putting Green Whisperer find the right words to make her stay?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Zoe M. McCarthy, a full-time writer and speaker, was pegged an expressive analytic in a personality test. Isn’t that an oxymoron? But it’s true. Zoe couldn’t survive without expressing her creative imaginings. Yet this retired actuary and introvert receives her energy from being alone in her home office overlooking the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains.

More from Zoe

The Putting Green Whisperer came about when my sister and I sat under a shade tree near a green at the PGA Senior’s Tour golf tournament. As we watched senior pro golfers and their caddies come through to putt, two young caddies standing just of the green with their backs toward us caught my eye. They talked quietly while their pros prepared to putt. He was tall and she was petite with her long blonde pony tailing protruding from the back of her pink ball cap. I day-dreamed how a romance might begin between the two caddies. I turned to my sister and pointed at the couple. “My next book will be about those two caddies.” My reviews of the book tell me readers who don’t care for golf enjoyed the romance and readers that love golf said I got the golf right.

An Author Interview with Zoe M. McCarthy

What inspires you the most?

Story ideas. Since I was nine, story ideas have dropped into my mind unbidden or from my observations. I usually write the stories. Often, they’re written only in my head, but in the past, many have made it to unfinished manuscripts stored under my bed. That doesn’t mean my finished novels were snapped up by publishers. However, in my four rejection letters for four different books, the editors said they liked my ideas. That inspired me to keep going. The idea for The Putting Green Whisperer came when I sat with my sister just off the green on the fifteenth hole at a PGA Seniors Golf Tournament. Pro golfers and their caddies approached, putted, and moved on to the next hole. In one group, I noticed two caddies standing beside each other quietly talking with their backs to us. He was tall, and she was petite with her long blonde ponytail protruding from the back of her pink ball cap. An idea rose and hovered over my brain. I turned to my sister, pointed, and said, “My next book will be about those two caddies.”

What are your hobbies other than writing? 

My husband and I have enjoyed canoeing the New River near our house in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Now that we have a cabin on a lake in southwest Virginia, we like to explore the lake channels. After biking the Virginia Creeper Trail down the mountain four times, I’m happy just to walk a portion of the trail near our cabin. We like to travel to the islands or to Europe. I knit and crochet men’s and women’s shawls for a prayer shawl ministry. It’s my pleasure to prepare and teach the lessons for our community Bible study. I enjoy developing and teaching writing workshops for writing groups that I present in person or on Zoom. One of my favorite activities is working on the projects to remodel our lake log cabin.

What is one thing in your life that you would say has had the greatest impact on your writing? Or in your life in general?

Becoming a Christian. God physically came and got me even though I fought Him. While I was growing in my faith, He gave me fun contemporary allegorical stories to explain to myself what I heard and read. I published the stories in two books and gave dramatic readings in several venues. Having God to guide me in ideas and spinning the stories has grown my writing abilities and readership each year. Also, the support from other Christian authors and readers is phenomenal. Concerning my life, God has led my husband and I in many ministries, in our physical moves, and in our trust in Him in good and challenging times. 

Do you have a genre that you would never write? (In the Christian genre sphere i.e. speculative, historical, contemporary, etc.) 

I chuckled at this question. I’ve learned never to say never. A few years ago, I said I’d never write in the speculative genre, then I received ideas for a speculative end-time book. I didn’t plan to write the story, but I continued to receive more ideas to the point I thought I was called to write the book. Over a couple of years while writing romances, I wrote the first book in the two-book speculative series. It required mounds of research, spreadsheets, and diagrams. Through an angel, God calls six eclectic women in a secret, forbidden Bible study sixteen months after the rapture to a year-long mission that spans the world. Some are young and some are old. I like the story, but it’s so different from what I normally write I didn’t know what to do with it. I consulted an editor I trust. He liked the story idea, but encouraged me to self-publish it, because it doesn’t fit into what most publishers call speculative end-time fiction. I sent it to five beta readers, four women and one man of different ages, entreating them to be honest in how they received the story. They’ve encouraged me to publish the book and keep asking me if I’ve done anything yet. I’m waiting for divine guidance.

Lastly, what was your favorite book growing up? 

Now that you ask that question, thinking about my favorite book growing up surprised me. I have written and published funky Christian allegories, a nonfiction book on writing, Christian romances, such as The Putting Green Whisperer, and I’m working on the speculative end-times, series. Yet, the favorite book of my youth was Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I read it on my father’s recommendation in ninth grade, then read it again for my senior thesis. That book sent me on a long jag of reading books by Russian authors.

Giveaway!

To celebrate her tour, Zoe is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and one print copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/1eb78/the-putting-green-whisperer-celebration-tour-giveaway

And Be sure to stop by the other stops on Zoe M. McCarthy’s book tour for The Putting Green Whisperer!

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, June 10

Texas Book-aholic, June 11

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, June 12 (Author Interview)

Inklings and notions, June 13

For Him and My Family, June 14

A Baker’s Perspective, June 15 (Author Interview)

Miriam Jacob, June 15

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, June 16

deb’s Book Review, June 17

For the Love of Literature, June 18 (Author Interview)

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, June 19

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, June 20

Blossoms and Blessings, June 21 (Author Interview)

Locks, Hooks and Books, June 22

Adventures of a Travelers Wife, June 23 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, June 23