Bunker Play Blog Hop: An Interview with Lily Malone

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Rhyll Biest interviewed Lily Malone about her new release, Fairway to Heaven, and got the scoop on bag rats, worm burners and mashie niblicks.

Many people find golf about as sexy as cardboard. Will your story put the ‘schwing’ back into ‘golf swing’?

I should probably put up my teeny tiny hand (it’s a very delicate hand) and say right from the get-go, that there isn’t exactly a heck of a lot of golf going on in Fairway To Heaven. I mean, it starts on a golf course…and it ends on a golf course…and somewhere in the middle they play a round of golf. But it takes at least half the book before anyone we have learned to know and love actually picks up a club in anger.

That said… there is something about the Fairway cover that is very much schwingy! I still don’t know what search terms my wonderful graphic designer Googled to come up with a golf ball between a pair of boobs! This is why she earns the big bucks, and I just admire her.

Do any of your characters experience playing with a ball that is afraid of the dark (won’t go in the hole)?

No, but one of them has a number plate that reads: ‘hole-in-1.’ Does that count?

Children as bag-rats (caddies). Would your hero/heroine be for or against it?

For it, definitely. Jenn has a 14-month-old son, and there are several times when she comments about how golf courses are not particularly child-friendly. I’m sure once her toddler is taller than the golf club, Jenn would welcome him caddying for her. So would Brayden. Brayden loves kids.

‘Milking the grip’ is a term for lightening and tightening one’s grip on a club before beginning a swing. Do your characters approve of milking the grip?

Good grief no. It’s giving them visions of cow teats and dairies. Definitely no milking of grips goes on in my book. There’s gripping. But no milking.

Would your heroine expect the hero to ‘attend the flag-stick’ (hold and remove the flag-stick for her while she’s putting) or is she too independent for this?

It’s not about being independent, it’s about demonstrating good golf etiquette. Certainly Jenn would expect Brayden to attend the flag for her, and she would do it for him.

What would your heroine do if faced with a poorly trimmed fairway?

It wouldn’t worry her. She isn’t a long hitter, but she’s straight up the middle every time so she rarely finds herself in the rough.

Has your heroine ever been involved in a greensome?

Nope. Never. She doesn’t even know what one is and if she knew what one was, she wouldn’t want to do it. She’s someone’s mother for crying out loud.

A ‘skins game’ involves play in which each hole has a set value (usually in money or points). Do any of your characters get involved in a skins game?

And here I was thinking someone finally got to take off their clothes. Per your explanation above, the answer is no. If it comes down to my explanation on the other hand, then that’s a yes.

My favourite golf term is ‘worm burner’, a shot that is hit remarkably low and hard. What’s your favourite golf term?

“Drive for show, putt for dough.” AND “Get in da hole.”

I like worm burner too. It reminds me a lot of my own golf game. I’m a hockey player from waaaay back, and I sometimes blame that for my incredible lack of loft.

A ‘mashie niblick’ sounds dirty. Does anyone use one in your story? If not, please tell us what your heroine would say about a ‘mashie niblick’.

She would have to Google it, and right now her wi-fi connection is playing up.

Thanks Lily! 
Readers can win a copy of Fairway to Heaven, The Yearning and A Sporting Chance, along with other gift goodies (see Lily's gift basket to the left) by entering the Rafflecopter contest in this blog post. You can also win a copy of Risk by leaving a comment. I'll pick a winner on 21 January. For now, hop on over to the other blogs participating in the hop, they're all offering giveaways!

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