A Conversation About Books, Writing, Publishing and Everything in Between

We’re back for another interview with an author who is in the process of shopping her first novel to agents and editors, looking for that first book deal (which I KNOW she’ll get!).

MEET SHAREN FORD:  Like one of the characters in her recently completed novel, IN SEPTEMBER, Sharen Ford was born in England, grew up in Australia, and is a former journalist and public relations professional.  Over the course of a long career based on writing, her credentials include breaking the all-male barrier to become the first female on-air television reporter in Australia, and the creation of numerous PR campaigns in the United States for a wide variety of clients, including authors.

JONATHAN MABERRY:  What compels you to write?

SHAREN FORD:  At the risk of sounding like a megalomaniac, the honest answer is: my desire for power!  I’d better explain.

It’s a far from unusual writer’s scenario, but I was an overly sensitive child and certain aspects of my family life would sometimes overwhelm me.  When I discovered that there was a spell within the pages of a book that could transport me far away from my personal troubles, I wanted to possess the power to create that magic.  I developed crushes on the writers of the novels I read, no matter that many of them were long dead.  I fantasized that they had toiled away in their garrets, crafting their stories just for me.

When I was old enough to realize that there was skill involved in the craft, I took to reading certain sentences over and over again, trying to put my mental finger on what it was about a particular combination of words that could captivate me, and hoping that, one day, I might be able to do the same thing for some future reader.

Even as I got older, nothing else – not movies, not television, not even music – ever equaled the transformative power of the written word, and the urge to write novels grew stronger.  Sadly, I was not one of those amazing people who could manage to do it all.  Life stubbornly thwarted my dream.  Despite my careers in journalism in Australia and public relations in the U.S., not to mention raising four sons with my husband, Carl Butrum, I was always determined that, eventually, I would write a book.

When the youngest child went off to college, I began what I thought would be my first novel.  It came to an abrupt halt when our oldest son died, suddenly and unexpectedly, of an undiagnosed heart condition.  Although I made a few attempts, that story was so associated with grief that I was never able to work on it again.  It turned out to be another twelve years before another would have the power to make me want to try.  I was truly compelled to write IN SEPTEMBER and it would be thrilling if a reader were to one day tell me that, in it, I had managed to pull off the writer’s magic trick of transporting them to a different world.

MABERRY:  Tell us about IN SEPTEMBER.

FORD:  The story follows the interwoven paths of two women, from different generations and cultural backgrounds, whose lives are linked by the significant events that take place throughout the years during the month of September.

Passionate, impulsive Miranda, whose family comes from England, and brilliant, self-possessed Rani, born in India, both grow up in South Australia but do not meet until their paths finally intersect in New York City.  On yet another September morning, each of the now close friends makes a fateful decision to change her normal routine, and both must face the consequences as they find themselves caught up in tragic events that will change the world.

MABERRY:  You’re involved with a group of women authors.  Talk about that.

FORD:  It was my great good fortune, once I made up my mind to try to write again, to decide to take a class entitled Advanced Novel Writing from a certain Jonathan Maberry who seemed to know a thing or four about writing novels.

The workshop is designed for accomplished writers in other fields who now want to write a novel, see it through to completion, and get it to market with the best possible chance of a sale.  I knew the class was exactly what I needed, but I didn’t expect it to come with a bonus: four other women writers who eventually became my wonderful critique group.  Two and a half years later, with a great deal of help from each other, we have all completed our very different novels, in five different genres.

The advice and encouragement we received from one another inspired us to create our own group blog, BIRTH OF A NOVEL, where we take turns reflecting on the writing process.  Representing YA, Mystery, Thriller, Historical and Literary Fiction, we all bring a unique perspective to the mix.

MABERRY:  What makes writing fun for you?

FORD: That god(dess)-like feeling of being in control of my characters’ destinies.  (Hmm … there’s that power thing again.)  Seriously, it is great fun to build a character, picking and choosing all their attributes from hair color to foibles.

I also take enormous pleasure in trying to use the English language to the best of my ability.  It is so full of subtlety and nuance that I feel an obligation not to give in to laziness by settling for a less than perfect word.

MABERRY:  Talk about the research you’ve done for your novel.

FORD:  The geographical scope of IN SEPTEMBER covers four continents.  Having lived in three of the locations, I was confident I knew whereof I wrote when it came to England, South Australia and the United States, but my only personal knowledge of India was a brief stopover in New Delhi when I was ten.  Consequently, I spent time researching such things as the train system between Delhi and Agra, and India’s Special Marriage Act that, in 1954, dissolved the prohibitions on marriage between the castes.

I also made sure that what I thought I already knew was, in fact, correct, particularly in relation to real people and places.  For instance, there is a scene in the book in which the young journalist, Miranda, is sent to interview Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother of England, on the occasion of her visit to South Australia.  Although I was there, I needed to verify the year (it was 1967).

MABERRY:  You were recently at Backspace.  How was that?

FORD:  Fantastic!  I belong to the Backspace online community and the “writers helping writers” spirit that prevails there was just as evident at the conference.  The workshops, led by successful authors who shared their expertise on everything from writing craft to getting published, were enormously helpful to wannabes like me.

I also participated in the far less enjoyable, but equally educational, Agent-Author Day – a truly terrifying experience in which rotating panels of agents sat in judgment as we trembling writers read aloud our query letters and the first two pages of our manuscripts.  The agents were equipped with one of those old-fashioned bells used to summon hotel desk clerks.  They listened to the queries and pages as if they were considering them in their offices and, at the point where something would have caused one of them to stop reading, he or she hit the bell.  Sometimes that thing dinged before the writer made it through the first sentence!  When my turn came, I kept expecting to hear the bell after every word I uttered, and was very relieved to make it through the whole thing without an interruption.

It was even more thrilling to receive an email the day after the conference from one of those long-suffering and very generous agents asking me to submit more of my work.

MABERRY:  Talk about the book you’re currently writing.

FORD:  Although it’s not exactly the same, this book contains some of the same themes as my first aborted novel.

A doting mother’s violent reaction to her daughter’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy exposes a lifetime of secrets.  Unforgiving of the woman who has lied in order to deceive her, the daughter struggles to understand why her mother would go to such lengths.  When the identity of her real grandmother is finally revealed, she finally begins to understand why her damaged mother would prefer to create a myth, rather than face her painful reality.

Tentatively titled THE MOTHER WHO NEVER WAS, this novel is an exploration of motherhood in all its forms, and whether secrets and lies are justified if they enable us to survive.

MABERRY:  Give us an intro to the sample from IN SEPTEMBER we’re going to read.

FORD:  Most of the significant events in Miranda Jamieson’s life have occurred throughout the years during the month of September.  On this particular September morning, at a time when she would normally be setting off on her usual morning walk along the Hudson River in lower Manhattan, she lingers in bed contemplating a strange dream about two dead fathers.

Click here to download the first chapter of IN SEPTEMBER by Sharen Ford.

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