Poisoned Secrets Interview

Today we're welcoming Maggie Ridgeway, the heroine of Poisoned Secrets, March 2009 Love Inspired Suspense. Wow, you've just had quite an adventure.


1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you came to be in the midst of such suspense.

All I wanted to do was find my birth mother and learn about my heritage. The only way I could get close to her and her family was to move into the apartment across the hall from her. The problem was that three weeks before a murder occurred in apartment 2A and an intruder has been looking for something that had been in the place.

2. So, during the book you met Maggie meet Kane McDowell. Tell us a bit about him. What was your first impression? When did you know it was love?

Kane is the Admissions Director at Seven Oaks University but also owns the apartment building where I live. I saw him the first time when I went to look at apartment 2A. He wasn't too keen on showing me the place, but he did, making it clear a murder had occurred in it. I fell in love with him when he insisted on protecting me and helping me to get to the bottom of the break-ins in apartment 2A.

3. What strengths/skills do you have? What is your greatest weakness?

My greatest weakness, at least in this case because it set everything in motion, is my curiosity. My greatest strength is my determination. It has helped me overcome my shyness and learn to speak out when I need to.

4. What scares you?

Being alone. I always seem to be on the outside looking in. Never quite part of a group.

5. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My feeling I'm not worthy of being loved. As a child I was abandoned by my birth mother, and when I was finally adopted years later, my adopted mother didn't want to have much to do with me. Thankfully my adopted father loved me, no matter what.
6. Where are you in your faith at the start of your story?

My faith is the only thing that helped me through the tough times, the rejections.

7. Where are you in your faith at the end of the story?

Strengthened even more because of my painful journey in the book. I had to learn to forgive Vicky for giving me up at birth. I even had to forgive my birth father for all the bad things he was responsible for. Neither was easy.

8. You've got a scripture at the beginning of the story. Tell us why this scripture is significant.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to also love one another. 1 John 4:11
I had to learn to love myself in order to be able to fall in love with Kane. Except for my adopted father (and the Lord), I'd gone through life not feeling loved.

9. If you could be a dessert what would you be and why?

A piece of cheesecake, my birth mother's specialty.

Wow, thank you Margaret for sharing Maggie with us. This sounds like a terrific read.