GENERAL:
How
did you start writing?
I
actually found my passion for writing in a counselor’s office while
I was living in Kentucky. I was seeing an older, conservative man
who’d cringe every time I said the F word in his office so he
encouraged me to journal (which I found very soon after I loathed,
not seeing a point in documenting the very things I wanted to get
away from). I believe this was his attempt to not have to hear me. So
instead, I wrote a gritty, fictional piece that I knew he’d hate.
Imagine my surprise when he leaned over and said “That was the best
****ing thing I ever read.” I haven’t stopped since.
How
did you find yourself on the Eastern Shore of Virginia?
I
was born and raised in New York. My grandparents met while working at
the World Trade Center, married, retired and moved down to
the Shore
in 1990 (when I was 5). My sister and I would spend our summers there
every year where we have our best childhood memories. When I was 21,
I moved back down there to live with my grandmother (Babchi). Both my
grandparents are deceased now, but Freedom’s
Child is
dedicated to them.
Something
funny: After my
grandmother passed, I found the very first story I wrote (I was eight
years old and had to do it for school). It’s titled “When I Went
to Virginia” and was also dedicated to the same people, my
grandparents. Who knows… maybe my great grandkids can sell it on
E-bay one day. I like to joke that it’s the prequel to my most
recent novel, which takes place on the shore.
Describe
your writing process, for you does it begin with character, plot?
Both?
I’m
the poster child for binge writing, if ever there were such a term. I
can go weeks without writing or write 50 pages in a day. I definitely
write characters with no real story in mind, they lead the way.
Truly. I’m just as surprised when my character is, I really have no
direction, but I think that’s the appeal.
How
long did you work on Freedom's
Child?
Freedom’s
Child
was a side fling while I worked on my first novel, The
Assassin’s Keeper,
one that’d never see the light of day but got me nominated for the
2013 Debut Dagger with the Crime Writers’ Association in London.
I’d write Freedom here and there on napkins and scraps. I started
it several years ago, but kept it in a drawer. After I moved to
Ireland and picked it back up, I had it finished in a couple of
months, all but the last chapter (though I knew exactly how it was
going to end). I just didn’t want to finish my relationship with
Freedom. So between the time I started and the time I finished, it
was four
years. If I put all my attention to it, I would have had it done in a
matter of weeks.
The
action in Freedom's
Child
is over-the-top, almost Tarantino-esque, including plenty of non-PC
dialogue and characterization. What kind of films, books, comics,
manga, video games, and music do you find inspiring?
I
hear that a lot, and it’s funny because my main source for writing
actually is film (I’m a self proclaimed film buff). When in need
for inspiration, I go to the movies. I was very inspired by the
dialogue of Frank Miller (I’m as much a comic/graphic novel fan as
a film buff). Tarantino and Scorsese are my personal favorites, and I
did draw a lot from them (Tarantino is my source for why I love to
write out of chronological order). I also found inspiration,
especially for setting, from the likes of TV shows, like Breaking
Bad
and Sons
of Anarchy.
It should also be noted that my favorite scene in the novel, the
desert scene, was totally inspired by Natural
Born Killers.
All
of the women in novel, with the exception of Carol, are independent,
head-strong women, not necessarily nice people (Lynn, for example)
did you model these characters after any one in particular? Where did
these characters come from?
I
think every single character I write is a smaller piece of me:
Freedom (the main character) reflects my pain and my walk with God.
People tend to be offended by the language and violence and so
they’re surprised when I tell them that the novel is nothing short
of a woman’s walk with God. Like my own, Freedom’s is rocky and
filled with anger, it isn’t candy-coated. But, we have a story of
trying to find salvation and redemption in a world where we’d made
so many terrible mistakes. So in that sense, we’re very alike.
Mimi,
the neighbor with dementia, represents my sanity. Passion, the
prostitute and Freedom’s best friend, represents what I wanted in a
friend. Lynn, the 600 pound, cocaine dealing mother of the group of
villains, represents my feelings of losing control. Even the
incredibly meek and submissive Carol represents the frustration of
having to bite my tongue and oppression.
My
characters are certainly over the top, more like caricatures. I
think, because so much of this book stems from my encounters with
addiction and grief, it’s my way of coping. To make all these
people over the top somehow lessens my own struggles. I think I’ve
made them all head-strong and independent in their own ways because
that’s how I want to be.
What
was the most challenging part of the novel for you to write? How did
you get through it/over that hump?‘The
End.’ I realize to the non-writer this might sound a little crazy,
but Freedom Oliver (the story’s anti-hero/protagonist) was
seemingly my only companion during many times of loneliness and grief
for me. I knew exactly what the last chapter was going to be. In
fact, I won’t start a novel until I have the end scene in my head
because it helps me to know where to aim my story, as I tend to go on
tangents. But I didn’t want to sever that tie between Freedom and
I, I knew I’d miss her. In the end, I whipped out the last chapter
and sent it out to a friend who sent it to a friend. Within 24 hours,
I had a two-book
contract. It’s since sold in 16 countries and optioned for a film.
What's
next for Freedom? I smell a series of books about this character.
Haha.
As of now, I have no intentions of bringing Freedom back to life.
HOWEVER, I’m just wrapping up book two
and already starting book three,
which brings back a minor character from Freedom’s
Child
and turns him into the main narrative. Not sure if Freedom might get
a cameo, we’ll see! Like I said, I have no direction, so I’m just
as surprised about these things as the reader is.
Tell
us about the crime group you belong to in Ireland? Is it a writing
club? How structured is it? How did that group influence you?
We’re
a group of criminals living in Ireland. KIDDING! I think people don’t
realize that the writing community, both abroad and in the states, is
a very small community. We’ve all become acquainted pretty quickly,
some of us do monthly meetings in Dublin where we read
recently-written pieces and get feedback over copious amounts of tea.
Mainly, it’s about support. The crime writing community in Dublin
and London is wonderful with lifting one another up.
Moving
to Ireland, an unheard of writer, I was honored to be taken under the
wings of some great Irish novelists and bestsellers who saw potential
in me. It really opened a lot of doors for me.
You're
a bit like Jimi Hendrix, finding fame abroad before finding it in the
US. How does it feel to an author abroad? Is it any
different? Ireland’s
a small country, much like a big small-town. In America, where it’s
so big and there are so many more people vying for book deals, it’s
a lot more dog-eat-dog of a world. I honestly don’t think I would
have been published if I tried pitching it around American publishers
because I’m one out of a million like me. I think part of the
appeal in Ireland and the UK was the fact that my writing was so
American, and so it was a little set apart: It had cowboys and
Indians and all that American culture that they just don’t have.
Did
living on the Eastern Shore influence your writing in any way?
How?The
Eastern Shore actually did not inspire too much of Freedom’s
Child,
but for naming the fictional town in Oregon ‘Painter,’ only
because I liked the name. However, I’m just wrapping up book two
of my contract, which takes place on the Eastern Shore. See the
question below.
Any
plans on writing the Shore into a novel?
Book
two’s
working title is This
Neck of The Woods.
It takes place in the early 90’s in a fictionalized representation
of Hacks Neck
in the made-up Pungo County, VA. It’s the story of the 14 year old
daughter of an accused serial killer. In an attempt to avoid having
to go into foster care, she runs into the arms of her father’s best
friend Javier Morales, a drug lord of the Mexican Cartel.
The
setting is based in Virginia, only I’ve added layers of the Mexican
Cartel (including a Day of the Dead parade), seedy cops, made up
places (factories and haunted house attractions) and my typical
caricatures. Oh, and of course, lots of crab cakes. Because nothing
says the Eastern Shore like good ol’ crab cakes. There are no words
to describe how much I miss the Shore’s
crab cakes.
What
advice would you give authors who are trying to break through with
their novel?Don’t follow
any advice. I think it’s important in writing to dance to the beat
of your own drum.
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