With
the holidays quickly approaching, the thought
of family gatherings can be rather daunting. Let's
face it…when everyone is assembled under
one roof, there is bound to be tension. No
one family can be angelic all the time. I
don't care how prim and proper you pretend
to be. Tempers flair, unsolicited opinions are
inserted into conversations at the most inopportune
times, and feelings can sometimes be hurt. On
the flipside, there is nothing sweeter than the
sound of a child's laughter or the smile
on a mother's face when her long-lost son
or daughter walks in the door. That's
the pure joy of family during the holiday season.
 I selected Monica
McInerney for this month's
jewel because her latest release, THE
FARADAY GIRLS, deals with just that…family. What
a perfect novel for this time of year. Set
in Australia, it's the story of five sisters
who lives are intricately intertwined due to
the loss of their mother. With secrets
from their past looming, these girls are transformed
into strong women as they test the waters and
make a place for themselves in life. Eloquently
written, I promise that their story will entertain
and delight you. Of course, they do have their
fair share of heartache, like all families, but
that is what makes this novel ring true.
As part of this interview, Ballantine Books has
graciously donated five copies for my readers! So
don't forget to look for the trivia question
at the end of the column. Good luck! I
hope you win!
So go ahead and grab a cup of hot tea and get
to know my friend, Monica McInerney.
Jen: Being an Australian
brings an air of intrigue to the table for most
Americans since all we know of Down Under is
what we see on television or what we hear from
celebrities such as Keith Urban and Russell Crowe. So that we can
get a better understanding of who you are and
the influence your background has had, please
tell us about your educational and professional
background. What was it like growing up
in Australia?
Monica: I grew up in a small town in the Clare
Valley wine region of South Australia, about
two hours north of the state capital, Adelaide.
It's a beautiful area, green and lush in
the winter, dry and big-skied in the summer.
My father was the railway stationmaster, my mother
worked in the local library and my six brothers
and sisters and I had a great childhood living
in a big rambling house beside the railway station,
across the road from hills and bushland. I left
Clare as a 16 year old after finishing secondary
school and moved to Adelaide where I found work
as a wardrobe girl and, later, scriptwriter,
on a children's television program. That
was the start of many different jobs and moves
for me. I've lived all over Australia,
as well as in London and in Ireland, and have
worked in book publishing, arts marketing, public
relations and music promotion. I've also
been a waitress, a hotel cleaner, a barmaid,
a Kindergym instructor and a temp.
Jen: I believe that as writers, we are born
with that motivating drive that brings our creative
juices to the forefront thus making us want to
have our thoughts heard. Please tell us
about your aspirations and your road to becoming
a novelist.
Monica: I know that I'm a writer because
I'm a reader. I learned to read as a four-year-old
and have devoured books ever since, in every
genre, often reading three or more books a week.
I was always encouraged to read, and to write,
as a child. I wrote my first book as an 8 year
old, calling it The Smith Family goes to Perth
on the Train. My school librarian took that book,
covered it and catalogued it and put it in the
school library. That made such an impression
on me, to be encouraged and believed in like
that. I kept writing as I grew older, producing
short stories, plays, poems and also, with my
younger brother and sister, an annual family
magazine called The McInerney Report full of
scandalous articles about all of us.
When I first found work in publishing as a 22
year old, I couldn't believe how happy
I was – to be surrounded by books and talking
about authors and writing all day, as well as
meeting many authors. In some ways those ten
years in publishing were like doing a writing
course by osmosis. I heard many different writers
talk about their methods of working and about
the highs and lows of being a novelist. It wasn't
until my husband and I moved to Tasmania in 1996
and I was unable to get work in publishing that
I started seriously writing fiction myself. I
missed being around books in my work life and
hoped that writing would give me back that feeling.
I wrote nearly fifty short stories in just a
few months, and had three published in women's
magazines in Australia. That gave me the confidence
to start my first novel.
Jen: Your previous novels, THE
ALPHABET SISTERS and FAMILY
BAGGAGE, both got rave reviews. What
was going on in your mind as you set out to write
your third novel? Were you determined to
go out on a limb and try something entirely different
and/or did you feel the pressure to exceed your
readers' expectations?
Monica: I
knew at the start of writing
THE FARADAY GIRLS that
I wanted it to be a big, complex story about
a big, complex family. I wanted to immerse myself – and
my reader – into
the heart of the Faradays, following three generations
over thirty years in such a way that you were
with each character throughout their lives. I
didn't consciously set out to make it very
different from my other novels. What intrigues
me and underpins all my novels, I think, are
themes of loyalty, rivalry, grief, kindness and
forgiveness, elements in the lives of all families,
real and fictional. Find this book in our catalog.
Jen: Your latest release, THE
FARADAY GIRLS,
is a phenomenal novel that I just couldn't
put down. I have to say that I was quite
sad when it ended because your characters became
a part of my life for a while. How did
you arrive at the premise?
Monica: I'm thrilled you enjoyed it so
much, thank you. The starting point for THE
FARADAY GIRLS was actually an overheard conversation
between my mother and her sister about three
years ago. They were discussing – in lively
fashion - a TV program they'd both watched
the night before, laughing and disagreeing and
I realized that of course they'd had a
completely separate relationship as sisters long
before they became my mother and my aunt. I
decided then that my next book would be about
aunts and nieces, about what children know and
don't know about their parents and aunts' lives
before they came along.
Jen: In my opinion,
this novel was quite the undertaking. It is what I would call
meaty in the sense that it has an intricate
plot and is not a quick read at 549 pages. How
did you go about writing this book? Did
you keep note cards on each character so that
you could keep them straight? I would
think it would have been labor intensive, yet
artistically challenging, with all of the subplots
and twists and turns.
Monica: I kept it all in my head as I
was writing it. I also wrote a lot of ‘backstory' that
didn't end up in the final book – conversations
between the different characters, scenes of them
at school, at home, at work. It helped me get
to know each of the characters intimately. I
had one note stuck on the wall in front of me,
a list of the Faradays' names and ages
at different stages of the book but beyond that,
no note cards. The Faraday family did take over
my life while I was writing the book, I have
to admit.
Jen: How did your family background influence
your writing of this book?
Monica: I think my family influences all my
books, in that as the middle child of seven,
I grew up surrounded by different personalities,
temperaments and dramas, great times and sad
times. But that's not unique to my family.
At the start of THE FARADAY GIRLS I quote a Chinese
proverb - ‘No family can hang out the sign: ‘Nothing
the matter here.'
Jen: Relationships are never easy, especially
familial, as you so eloquently point out in this
book. If you had to sum it up without
giving away the plot, what lessons can we learn
from reading about the Faradays' experiences
that we could in turn apply to our own lives?
Monica: I think it comes down to one single
thing: we should try to be kinder to one another.
Jen: Of all of the characters in THE
FARADAY GIRLS, which one is your favorite and why? Which
character was the most challenging to write and
why?
Monica: I did love Maggie. I enjoyed writing
her as a five-year-old and then being able to
take the leap into adulthood with her in Part
Two. But I also felt enormous sympathy for Sadie.
The most difficult I think was Eliza, who is
the most self-contained and separate of the five
sisters.
Jen: If you had to choose one scene in the novel,
which one is your favorite and why?
Monica: Without giving too much away, I do like
the final scenes in Part One, told through Maggie's
viewpoint. She thinks she is going on a little
holiday with her aunt. The reader knows otherwise.
Jen: Have you
given any thought as to a sequel?
Monica: Not as yet, but the characters have definitely
all stayed in my head so it may happen. I'm
very curious myself what might happen next to
them all.
Jen: As a writer, how have you grown in
respect to your craft?
Monica: I try to do more with each book, go
deeper and seek out richer areas. I never expect
to finish a book and think, that's it,
that's as far as I can go. It's a
constant process of wanting to be as good as
I can, bringing my own life experiences and thoughts
into my stories, and writing as honestly and
intricately as I can. I love that feeling of
possibility.
Jen: What has surprised you most about the publishing
business and why?
Monica: I'm in the fortunate position
that I spent ten years on the ‘other side' of
the publishing business, working in marketing
and publicity for publishers in Ireland and Australia
before I started writing. So I knew from the
start of my writing career that it is indeed
a publishing ‘business'. But it is
a wonderful business and just about everybody
who works with books is there because they love
books.
Jen: Do you have a website? Mailing list? E-mail
notification? Do you participate in author phone
chats? If so, how may my readers go about
scheduling one?
Monica: Yes, I have a website www.monicamcinerney.com,
with information on all my books, including the
four not yet published in the US, as well as
interviews and articles, my biography etc. I
also love to do author phone chats and readers
can get in touch with my publisher Random House
to set one up – www.thereaderscircle.com
Jen: What is your next project?
Monica: I have three or four ideas and I'm
trying to decide which one will become my next
book. I've also had an idea for a children's
book and also a play. So it's going
to be a busy couple of years.
Jen: Monica, thanks so much for taking the time
out of your busy schedule to speak with my readers.
I so loved the book! Best of luck in your future
endeavors!
Monica: Thanks very much, Jen, I really enjoyed
answering your questions.
I hope you have enjoyed my interview with Monica!
The first five readers to e-mail me at jensjewels@gmail.com with
the correct answer to the following question
will win a copy of THE
FARADAY GIRLS. Good
luck!
What is the title of the first book that Monica
wrote?
Later this month, I will be bringing to you
my interview with Louise
Shaffer, author of FAMILY
ACTS. You won't want to miss it!
Until next time…Jen
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Meet
the Author: featuring Jen's Jewels