☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼ with M.C.V. EGAN: Cherry Punch by Marvin Mason Genre: Contemporary Romance, Urban Fiction

Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?

I became an author because it was far easier to get a novel in front of readers than it was to get Franklin Leonard and Lena Waithe to read a screenplay. I have been writing since college, but never took my teachers seriously regarding the craft. I hated editing and would challenge my professors to edit material for me if they saw something they wanted me to submit for publishing purposes. They weren’t to keen on that idea. I became serious about writing after coming thisclose to talking Marc Forrester(Quantum of Solace, World War Z) into working on a screenplay for a movie I had a license for remake purposes in 2001. His rejection led me to work with a variety of independent filmmakers, but I never shared my passion to write with them. I was always brought in from a sales and marketing perspective and I left it there. Megan Joseph and B. Love provided me with my first opportunity, and I have been off to the races ever since.

Where were you born/grew up at?

I was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Maywood, Illinois. During my childhood and teen years I grew up around the likes of Doc Rivers, Michael Woodard, and Isiaih ‘Zeke’ Thomas ( except we never called him Zeke at school). Doc Rivers’ brother brought me into my current profession when he was president of the Maywood School Board.

What kind of world ruler would you be?

I would get everybody killed if I were leader. I would want a battle every day. Ask former employees of mine. It was a badge of honor to sit in a meeting with high-end executives and say something foul knowing full well I was representing a team. I would fight for my team, mind you, but sometimes I started the fight.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I considered myself a writer the first time I put pen to paper. I don’t know if I consider myself an author as of this writing, but I am diligently trying to get there.

Do you have a favorite movie?

Chinatown written by Robert Towne. The most remarkable screenplay ever, especially when you realize the entire story is from a limited perspective as every scene features Jake Gittes, but he is not narrating the tale as many noirs would have that character do.

Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?

I can imagine Interstate and The Expert Witness transitioned into movies. The Magnificent Mile coming soon would translate as well.

Cherry Punch

by Marvin Mason

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Urban Fiction

A double cross sends a couple of friends on the adventure for their lives.

A chance run in with an old friend becomes a run for their lives when Sherry Rose and Benny Freeman have a misunderstanding with local drug dealers. Witnessing the massacre of friends of Sherry's double crossing boyfriend leads them to be hunted down by corrupt law enforcement.

Having a near death experience gives them a chance to start a romance they never knew the other wanted.

Will they survive when the bad guys close in on them and finally find the love they always wanted?

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Marvin Mason has arrived as a refreshing new storyteller with this fun adventure of young people and African-American Midwest life, the seemingly quiet but oh-so interesting world that molded me but rarely shows up in the media."

Kalisha Buckhanon, American Library Association ALEX Award-winning author of Upstate and Conception, winner of the Friends of American Writers Literature Award. Since his debut Mason has brought you novels such as Expert Witness and Interstate that took his audience on a thrilling ride.

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