Be sure to comment and include your email address for a chance to win a copy of The Perfect Son. I'll draw a lucky winner by random. :-) Here's your chance to get in on a great author!
[The giveaway is closed. Congratulations, Nicole!]
I
first met Barbara Claypole White when the WFWA email loop formed
before the association took official flight in September 2013. Be sure to check
out Barbara’s website www.barbaraclaypolewhite.com Her first book—The Unfinished Garden—was an amazing, deep look at OCD. The
examination of an emotional illness made me sit up and cheer! Barbara is an
author who can take complex issues and distill them into captivating stories.
I’ve been a fan ever since.
The Unfinished Garden is a lovely story with two damaged
characters finding the road a bit bumpy, but worth the trip. This is a good
read that takes readers on a tour of living with OCD, and the problems it
presents for those who love the sufferer. White's ability to share the journey
of her characters allows readers to have empathy.
The In-Between Hour is an absolutely fabulous story! I'm
never forget Will, Hannah, Jacob, and Galen. They're not characters; they're
living, breathing people. Grief and are true to life and White’s story
is deeply moving.
What's the worst thing that can happen when you must have everything in control? That's exactly the question in Barbara Claypole White's latest--The Perfect Son. Her insightful and delicate touch with characters suffering from mental illness is a hallmark of her novels. The Perfect Son solidifies my opinion of her expert story telling.
ZM: Welcome to In the
Shade of the Cherry Tree, Barbara! I love your books and the truth of families
that live with OCD, dementia, grief, and Tourette’s. What’s been your inspiration
for “Hopeful Family Drama with a Healthy Dose of Mental Illness”?
Barbara: Thank you. I’m thrilled to
be here, WFWA sister! Everything I write comes back to being the mother of a
brilliant young man who has battled obsessive-compulsive disorder for the last
sixteen years. We’ve visited hell together numerous times, and even when the
OCD monster retreats into the shadows, I’m waiting for it to pounce. The sad
reality is that mental illness is treatable not curable, demands constant
management, and can often be fatal. As a mom I need to believe tomorrow can be better.
And you know what? Often it is.
ZM: The Perfect Son is trending on Amazon—I saw you listed with
the likes of Stephen King and Diana Gabaldon. Tell us what the road to
publication for your latest book has been.
Barbara: I still can’t believe what’s
happened with THE PERFECT SON. From day one this was my wild child, and it was written
to the ticking clock of deadline. I had horrible problems with research and
plot, lost more titles than anyone should have to lose, and right after I
turned in the completed manuscript…my publisher cancelled my contract. But Cinderella
does go to the ball if she has a kick-ass agent, and within two weeks I had another
offer. When my new editor mentioned putting the book forward for the Kindle
First Program, I didn’t want to even hope…
ZM: How do you work to
flesh out your characters? Do they come to you fully formed, or do you have to
mold them? I also noticed that many of them garden. Is that a nod to your own
gardening experience?
Barbara:
I have a sense of the characters when I start, but nothing
more. I research, research, research and then I rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. I
spend months trying to get those first few chapters to speak to me. When a
character says something that makes me punch the air and go, “yes!” I know I’ve
found his or her voice. Once I have my characters’ voices, I can move forward
with the story.
Yes, a number of my characters garden. I’m a huge woodland
gardener, and that definitely plays a role. But I think it’s more about trying
to understand the creative side of my characters’ personalities. Most of them
battle some form of invisible disability and how they relate to art and music is
fascinating to me. Is it therapeutic for them, does it give them escape? I
devote a ridiculous amount of time to thinking through each character’s relationship
to music, for example, because music is such a great manipulator of emotions.
ZM: You and I both write
Women’s Fiction. It’s a very broad genre with many sub-categories. I love your
use of family drama to help define your niche. What’s your definition of
women’s fiction and how you deal with the misunderstanding that the entire
genre is Chick Lit or another sub-genre?
Barbara: I wasted so much energy
in the early days trying to explain—even to family members—that I didn’t write
romance, and now I just tune it all out. I’m dark and I’m quirky, and I write
emotionally layered drama that focuses on what it means to be part of a family,
whether that role is as a husband or wife, a daughter or a son. Because I lean
toward the male POV—I really am fascinated by the emotional lives of messed-up
men!—some readers claim I don’t write women’s fiction. The truth is that many novels
don’t fit neat genre definitions. For example, look at the work of Jodi Picoult
or Diana Gabaldon. I think writers should write their passion and not worry
about labels. That’s not exactly an answer, is it?
ZM—Many craft books stress that writers
must read and read a lot. Who is your favorite author, or what is your favorite
genre? What draws you to a book you read for enjoyment?
Barbara: I don’t think I have a favorite
genre, because I read all over the place. Basically if someone hands me a book
and says, “This is really good, you should read it,” I do. I read a lot of
memoirs, often for research, but sometimes I’m in the mood for a fast-paced thriller
and sometimes I want to slow the world down with beautifully written literary
fiction. I reread classics when I can (REBECCA is on my list for the summer),
and I like to pick up debut fiction. If I had to single out favorite authors, I
would choose Jodi Picoult, Marian Keyes, and the Irish writer Denyse
Devlin/Woods. I’ve pretty much read everything those three authors have written.
ZM: What’s next? What story are you
working on now?
Barbara: Hmm. I can’t answer that
right now but stay tuned.
ZM: I, for one, can't wait! Thank you, Barbara for stopping In
the Shade with us. Bring your next story on!
English
born and educated, Barbara Claypole White lives in the North Carolina forest
with her family. Inspired by her poet/musician son’s courageous battles against
obsessive-compulsive disorder, Barbara writes hopeful stories about troubled
families with a healthy dose of mental illness. Her debut novel, The
Unfinished Garden, won the 2013 Golden Quill Contest for Best First Book,
and The In-Between Hour was chosen by SIBA (the Southern Independent
Booksellers Alliance) as a Winter 2014 Okra Pick. For more
information, or to connect with Barbara, please visit
www.barbaraclaypolewhite.com.
Next Week: The origins of Cherry Hill in pictures and snips!
