Maggie Dana

[Michelle]

As an established member of the forum, I thought that Maggie would make an interesting Featured Author. Maggie's book, Beachcombing, is published in June by panmacmillan, and she will be touring in the UK at various events and book signings.

Before she rushes off to do this, I'll let Maggie introduce herself a little better, and tell us more about the book. Once she returns, she will able to answer some of our questions.

Maggie, over to you...

[Maggie Dana]

Hi Michelle, and everyone ... and thanks for inviting me to be a featured author. I really am humbled (and excited) by this. Most unexpected, believe me.

First, let me mention I had no youthful aspirations to be a writer. Oh, I enjoyed writing, especially essays, but I never kept a journal or yearned to see myself in print, so it was a big surprise when I did, and it all happened because I was bored. So here goes ... my 'potholed path to publication' saga.

I grew up in England and moved to the States in my early 20s to get married, where I raised a family, got divorced, and found myself back in the job market at 35 with 3 kids and a half-finished house to support. After 5 years in a soul-destroying job with an engineering firm, I managed to wangle a lowly position at a US children's publisher, but my absentee boss left me with way too much time on my hands, so to keep boredom at bay (and to look efficiently busy), I wrote a kid's book. On their time, their typewriter, and their paper, and then (oh, sweet irony!) I sold it to them for $1,500, which was a nice chunk of change back then.

But this wasn't going to support me and the kids, so I kept working days and I wrote at night, and on weekends I continued to finish my house. I wrote a second book for the same publisher, then a series called 'Best Friends' for another. After that, life got in the way (launching my own business, surviving breast cancer, and several other pesky interruptions) and I didn't pick up my pen again until 1999. Women's fiction this time. I'd had no trouble finding publishers for my kids' books; how hard would it be for a novel? (Do I hear laughter? Snorts of derision?)

I'll stop now, and add more to my saga as we proceed. As for my novel, Beachcombing, here's what a friend, another author, had to say about it, which pretty much sums it up:

"Funny, sophisticated, and wise, Beachcombing is a coming-of-middle-age story about girlfriends when you're no longer a girl, about growing up when you're already grown up, and the price you're willing to pay for the love of your life."

I'm at home, in the U.S. until June 1st, then I fly to England for 3 weeks to help Beachcombing get off the ground ... so I'm ready to answer questions now. I'll also be checking in with the Forum while back on my UK home turf, but I'll be at the mercy of friends' computers (they're all on PCs, and I'm a Mac user) so I'll do my best to figure things out and keep up with this thread.

OK ... over to you.

[Linda Gillard]

Hi Maggie and welcome to the Featured Author slot!

I've ordered BEACHCOMBING on Amazon and I'm really looking forward to reading it soon. I have a special interest in mature heroines. I write about them and my 21st birthday was a very long time ago.

I'm also looking forward to BEACHCOMBING's wonderful setting. I love coastal/island books and New England is somewhere I've always wanted to go. How important is the setting for you when you're planning and writing a book? (I'm beginning to think I can't come up with an idea for a book or develop the story until I can "see" where it's taking place.)

And can I be nosey and ask if you, er, ever fall in love with your heroes? (You're among friends here!)

[Maggie Dana]

Hi Linda:

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks for ordering the book. Setting is super important to me. I need to 'see' it before writing it, so I took the easy way out for Beachcombing and set the story in places I know and love: coastal New England, London, and Cornwall. The photos in the banner at the top of my web site are ones I took in my own home town (in Connecticut) last summer. Our local beach is less than 2 miles from my house; that shot of the marina is a 10-minute walk away.

And, oh yes, I certainly do fall in love with my heroes, the rotters and the nice guys. That said, I also fall in love with my female characters as well, and when I created Lizzie, the necessary 'best friend' of the main character, I took the most endearing traits from several of my own best friends and mushed them all into one character. Then I added a few quirks, an irritating detail or two because I didn't want her to be too perfect; I wanted her to be real.

[Chrissy]

Hello Maggie,

What inspires you in your writing? Is it some 'thing' that you have in your mind over a period of time and it evolves there, or is it more a flash that sends you racing to your pen, pencil or keyboard? Indeed, is it something you can qualify?

I am fascinated by the first thought / inspiration aspect of a story that results in it being written.

Thank you

[Maggie Dana]

Originally Posted by Chrissy

Hello Maggie,

What inspires you in your writing? Is it some 'thing' that you have in your mind over a period of time and it evolves there, or is it more a flash that sends you racing to your pen, pencil or keyboard? Indeed, is it something you can qualify?

I am fascinated by the first thought / inspiration aspect of a story that results in it being written.

Thank you

Hi Chrissy:

There two things that triggered Beachcombing. One was a challenge; the other was a feeling of being left out!

First the challenge: For several years I've been whingeing at the lack of novels aimed at women in their middle years that featured independent, feisty women who tackled life head on. A good friend challenged me to write one of my own, so I did, and I've dedicated the novel to her!

As for other: Living in the US, I've watched (feeling a bit left out of the fun) as my friends here attended high school and college reunions where they reconnected with old friends and sometimes with old flames. I grew up in the UK and don't have that option, especially since I've been here for many years, and my school in England no longer exists. Then the internet made reunions even easier, so I got to wondering what it'd be like to meet someone from the past, someone you've not seen in 30+ years, someone you were rather fond of, maybe.

And that's pretty much what got things going, really, and the story pretty much grew from there. But a midlife reunion was just the basic premise, and other ideas would just sprout in my mind without warning, often at the most inconvenient times, such as when I'm in a traffic jam or in the shower. You just have to hope you remember them when you're finally able to grab a pencil and notepad.

[Charm]

Hi Maggie

I was just wondering, do you ever base any of your books on your real life experiences?

I've always thought it would be great to be able to write a book and my husband is always saying since I read so much, I should give it a go, but I'm not sure I have the imagination to make it interesting enough. I'm always amazed by the depth of imagination it must take to make a story interesting, never mind engrossing, and I take my hat off to anyone who can do this successfully!

Well done to you and I wish you continued success

[Kell]

Hi Maggie!

First off, congratulations on the publication of your latest novel and on being our latest featured author.

I have two questions to ask you:

1) Do/have you base/d any of your characters on people you know? If so, was any one person transcribed directly into a character or are they mnore composites of several different people? Or are they all completely made up?

2) What would be your number one piece of advice to an aspiring writer?

Thanks.

[Maggie Dana]

Originally Posted by Charm

I was just wondering, do you ever base any of your books on your real life experiences?

I've pulled a few details from my life, but nothing major ... just a few bits here and there, and the setting, as mentioned above, is based on the small New England town where I've lived for the past 35 years! And even though I describe the town and local scenery, especially the beaches, pretty accurately, I made sure not to include any of my town's inhabitants.


I also think that Jill, the story's main character, is modeled after me, or at least the way I'd like to see myself. Not sure if my friends and family would agree. I'll have to ask them!

[Maggie Dana]

Originally Posted by Kell

1) Do/have you base/d any of your characters on people you know? If so, was any one person transcribed directly into a character or are they mnore composites of several different people? Or are they all completely made up?

2) What would be your number one piece of advice to an aspiring writer?

I'll answer question 2 first. My number one piece of advice is to READ, READ, then READ a lot more, especially in your genre, be it thrillers, fantasy, women's fiction, picture books for kids, literary fiction ... whatever you're trying to write, read lots of it by authors you admire. Learn as much as you can from them, and the best way to learn how to write is to read.

As for characters based on people I know ... there are a few, especially one whose name in the novel is Dutch Van Horne. He's almost totally based on a friend (I asked his permission first) and while a minor character, he's an endearing and complicated one. Then there's Lizzie, Jill's very necessary best friend whose character is a composite of several of my own best friends, again with their gracious permission.

The other characters are mostly fiction, with the exception of Zachary, Jill's cat. He's based on Fred, a Siamese I once owned and still miss even though he's been gone for many years.

[Linda Gillard]

I was very interested to read your advice to aspiring writers, Maggie.(Read, read, read.)

I agree. I think reading analytically really helps to improve your writing skills. Working out why & how something works (or doesn't!) can teach you so much about the craft of writing. I suppose it's something like taking an engine or a clock apart to see how it actually works.

I've found it relatively easy to work out why a book fails to hook me or a writing style irritates me. Working out why something has me turning the pages or fighting back tears is much harder to do.

Here's a tough Q (maybe!): Which book would you like to have written?

[Maggie Dana]

Originally Posted by Linda Gillard

Here's a tough Q (maybe!): Which book would you like to have written?

Thanks, a LOT, Linda!

I'd like to say something by Dickens or Delderfield, but I'll admit to Trollope ... Joanna, not Anthony! I really admire her style, her ability to jump from one character's POV to another without it ever feeling like the awful (and noticeable) head-hopping that ruins many a book for me. I know there are literary types who look down their noses at her 'aga sagas,' but luckily we don't all like the same books.

It's a toss-up beteen A Spanish Lover and The Rector's Wife.

Oh, and can I pick another (1, or 2, or 3, or ....).

Elizabeth Buchan's Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman is a favourite and I'd love to have written it; then there's an amazingly fabulous novel called Star Gazing I'd rather have loved to see my name on, but I cannot, for the life of me, remember the author's name!