Interview with Mary Carterauthor of The Pub Across the Pond
Mary welcome to the B&N.com General Fiction Book Clubforum, we are so happy to have you as our featured author in July when we readyour spirited novel The Pub Across ThePond.
Debbie - Mary youwill have your 6th novel published on July 31st,
Do you still get butterflies on release day.Mary - First, thankyou for having me. Yes, The Things I DoFor You, will be out on July 31st. I don’t necessarily getbutterflies because I’m not physically present when the “release” happens, butI do look forward to it. I now have an image of thousands of butterflies beingreleased—I like that, I think I will hold on to it. There is always a lot ofanticipation when a book comes out. You’ve spent so much time on it, it’s likeyour child and you want people to like it, and be nice to it, and invite it totheir birthday parties. But you also have to learn to relax because you reallycan’t control how your book will be received. I try to spend most of my energyon writing the best story I can, and am learning to be a bit Zen about therest.
Tell us a little about what inspired you to write The Pub Across the PondI’ve always lovedIreland and the Irish in general. My great grandmother emigrated from Irelandon my mother’s side and the culture is so strong that generations later I stillfelt “Irish”. In my lifetime I’ve also fallen for more than one Irishman. Noneof the relationships worked out the way I wanted so I think it was cathartic towrite a novel where I could control the outcome. It was also a great excuse todrink in pubs and visit Ireland. Whenever I’d raise a pint, someone along thebar would invariably say—“She’s working.” Complete with air quotes. Guinnessused to actually run a contest where you could win a pub in Ireland, and everytime I entered I had this elaborate fantasy of what that would be like. I neverdid win the real thing, but once again writers have the luxury of changingtheir luck.
Tell us about your new project The Writers Den, how did itcome about and why did you start it.I love talking aboutwriting and I always have aspiring writers ask me for advice. Years ago I tookan online writing course that helped me tremendously while writing my firstnovel. The course later became a published book—Immediate Fiction by Jerry Cleaver. He’s been teaching his coursein Chicago for 26 years and running. We’ve stayed in touch with each book I’vepublished, so one day I emailed and asked what he thought about me teaching hisunique 6-week writing workshop in NYC. He loved the idea, and it all snowballedfrom there. So I’ve franchised the workshop, but as a working novelist I havepractical experience of my own to offer my students as well.
Tell us where you were and how you felt when you first learnedyou were going to be a published author.I was living on ahouseboat in Seattle at the time. It was a very small houseboat but it was just“down the block” from the Sleepless inSeattle houseboat. Speaking of which—I have to tell this cute little story—Iwas told that there was a little boy who lived on the houseboat they used tofilm Sleepless in Seattle, and onebright summer day they were filming and this little boy fell asleep on thedock. While he was napping they set up for a Christmas scene. So he wakes up tofind Christmas lights and fake snow. The poor kid thought he slept throughsummer and fall. Don’t know if it’s true, but that’s what you hear when youhang around houseboats. Back to me. Believe it or not I don’t remember exactlywhere I was when the call from my agent came in, I think I was on thehouseboat—but I do know that shortly afterwards I walked up and down the pierwith this incredible feeling of joy. It had just rained (Really? Rain inSeattle?) and I looked up and there in the skies over Lake Union was a doublerainbow. I took it as a promising sign. It was a very special moment.
Tell us about the history of your writing, did you alwayswant to write, are you an overnight success.My first short storywas written when I was four-years-old. It was called “The Boy and the Mouse.”Then in third grade I won a state-wide writing contest with a story about a boyand a muskrat. I don’t know why I was so fascinated with boys and rodents, buthey, whatever gets you going, right? I continued to write poems, essays, shortstories, plays, and even a screenplay up until I attempted my first novel. Sotechnically I was very lucky in that the first novel I’d ever written waspublished, but I had many years of practice behind me.
Tell us about your life as an author, do you write fulltime, do you belong to a writer’s group.I am getting close tothe dream of writing full time. I still do some freelance work in another fieldbut it’s trickled way down lately. I also conduct the writing classes now. I’vealways thought about writer’s groups but I’ve never actually joined one. Maybethere’s one in my future because I do love meeting and being with otherwriters. The act of writing is so lonely that we need the support andlike-mindedness at times.
Do you do your research behind a desk or do you get to go tothe places you write about.A bit of both. For The Pub Across the Pond I went toIreland for a month. I’m currently writing a novel set in Italy, but I was onlyable to go for 8-days so a lot of my research will be online, books, travelvideos, etc. Whenever I can, I prefer to be free of the “behind the desk”syndrome and actually get out and see, and do, and touch, and smell, andeavesdrop.
Take us on an average day in the life of Mary CarterI truly don’t have an“average” day. Sometimes I write on my couch in PJs. Sometimes I go to a coffeeshop. Sometimes I go to my writing space. Some days I do other freelance work.Some days I have class in the evening so I am preparing for that. I guess I shakethings up quite a bit. I also try to balance it with a social life—friends andactivities. I live in NYC after all, so there’s never the excuse that there’s“nothing to do”.
Mary, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busyschedule for answering these questions and for being an integral part of ourdiscussion. Thank you so much,it’s so much fun answering these questions, and I can’t wait for the discussionon July 9th!
My review of The Pub Across the Pondoriginally published October 2011The Pub Across The Pond
Mary Carter
Kensington
336 pages
ISBN 13:9780758253361
Carlene Rivers is unlucky, at love and at life it seems but something told her to buy a raffle ticket at an Irish fair in Ohio, only $20.00 to win a pub in Ireland.
Ronan McBride is a rogue and a gambler, he’s never found the right woman to settle him down but when he looses the family pub in a poker game the women in his family take matters into their own hands, they offer the pub in a raffle, in America open only to Yanks.
Carlene and her winning raffle ticket show up in Ballybeog Ireland to take ownership of her new pub, she leaves the baggage of her old life behind determined to become a new woman. Will she run screaming back to the US or will the locals welcome her with open arms, will it be more than she hoped for or worse than a nightmare at A Pub Across The Pond.
Get ready to kiss the Blarney Stone with this fun, quirky, entertaining Irish Adventure, full of spirit and energy. Mary Carter takes us across the pond to the most unremarkable yet quaint little village in the middle of nowhere Ireland and tells us a tale for a Celtic story lover. Her plot is an amazing mix of intrigue, romance, family drama and Irish hospitality. The narrative goes between the yank speak of Carlene and the Irish brogue of Declan and the rest of the locals, it will keep you in stitches and give you a rare authentic taste of real Ireland, it can get a bit raw but that’s what authentic is all about. Her characters all deserve Oscars for their performances as they are all amazingly believable and utterly charming. Her heroine Carlene is a wonderful portrait of a woman aspiring to be her best by reinventing herself. Her hero Ronan is an irresistible cad that woman can’t help fall in love with and men want for their best friend, he’s also a genuine caring person who just can’t seem to make the right choices.
It’s a romance, a drama, a contemporary piece of literature and it’s a whole lot of fun. So if you’re in the mood to take a closer walk with the wee folk, or to walk in the Steps of Brigid or Patrick pick up your own copy of this memorable novel.
Thank you Ms. Carter for my must read of October
Buy the book here visit the author’s website here.
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