Interview with Maryann McFadden

The best thing about summertime is the ability to escape. Whether it's in your backyard reading a book or to your favorite vacation destination, there's nothing quite like leaving it all behind- even if it's only for a little while. But, imagine if it wasn't. What if one afternoon you decided to get in your car and just drive without telling anyone where you were headed? Better yet, what if you chose to start anew focusing on yourself rather than your family?

Well, that's exactly what this month's Jen's Jewels wrote about in her first release entitled THE RICHEST SEASON. Newcomer Maryann McFadden beautifully depicts one woman's journey to find herself. Of course, along the way the main character discovers much more than she ever could have imagined about herself as well as the family she has left behind. Without a doubt, this novel is the perfect companion for a lazy day at the beach.

As part of this interview, Hyperion Books has graciously donated five copies to give away to you, my faithful readers! So, don't forget to look for the trivia question at the end of the column.

Please grab yourself a refreshing glass of sweet tea and then read all about my sparkling new gem, Maryann McFadden.

Jen: I was immediately drawn to your book for two simple reasons. I grew up in New Jersey and I spend my summers in South Carolina. Both of these locales are beautifully portrayed in your novel. With that being said, your foray into the publishing business has not been a typical journey. So that my readers can better understand the person behind the words, please tell us a little bit about your educational and professional background.

Maryann: From the time I was a young girl and fell in love with reading, I wanted to be a writer. I got a bachelor's degree in English, and when I graduated college I began freelancing for local newspapers, gradually breaking into magazines like Working Woman and Women's Sports & Fitness.

I also did some corporate writing for the makers of Crayola and even taught a bit of journalism at my local college. I didn't make a ton of money, but freelancing was great because it allowed me to stay home and raise my kids until they were in school, which was really important to me.

After about ten years of freelancing, I was honestly tired of working from home. The kids were in school now and it was lonely. Plus, my husband's job changed and I suddenly needed to make some real money! Well, after lots of interviews for corporate jobs, and unhappy about the prospect of giving up so much time with my family, I decided to go into real estate. My brother had actually just bought a Century 21 office in my hometown and even my mother, who'd not really worked her entire life, got her license and was doing really well. And guess what? I did, too. I learned that people really just wanted someone who was honest and that they could trust. I loved working with people and became a top agent in Northern NJ.

But real estate is a 24/7 commitment and after about ten years, as my children were leaving the nest, I began to miss writing. I decided to go back to school and get a Master's Degree because I wanted to write fiction, and didn't feel really prepared to do that after such a long absence. I also had a wealth of material from the many people whose lives I'd become intimately involved in.

Jen: THE RICHEST SEASON came to fruition originally as a self-published book back in 2006. Currently, you have a contract with Hyperion Books who just released your novel this month. From a business standpoint, what has been the most significant difference in the launching of your novel now that you are with a major publisher? What lessons have you learned in respect to the marketing of your work as well as yourself that would be helpful to aspiring authors just starting out in their careers?

Maryann: When I did it myself, I was on my own. I was not just the writer, but the publicist, marketer, and distributor. It was exhausting. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to get my book out there in readerland and get it sold so I could hopefully get a real book deal. But after a while, I didn't have time to write anymore.

I've felt from the beginning that this was a special book, that it could be— dare I say it?—a bestseller. Now I have all the resources to make that happen. National distribution, whereas before the chains wouldn't touch me. Sales reps in the field, pushing my book from store to store, all over the country, not just in my area, or wherever I happen to be going. A publicist, an editor, and a publisher who also believe in this book in a huge way. In short, I've got an entire team of people behind me who want to make this happen as much as I do.

Probably the biggest lessons I've learned is that you are your own best promoter. Believe in yourself and make that come across. I'm still making personal calls to newspapers and booksellers because that one on one contact is special and it will make them remember you. These people get hundreds of books a month come their way, so you want to stand out from the crowd.

Be shameless. Ask for what you want. That's a little lesson from my real estate sales days. If you want to do a signing with a bookseller, ask them. If you want them to read your book, ask them. If you want a newspaper to do a piece on you/your book, tell them why they should, then ask if they will. If you want a bookseller to recommend you to a book club, ask. I start out by smiling and saying, "I'm shameless, but I'm hoping you'll consider-" Just fill in the blank.

Reviews and blurbs from booksellers are gold. Get just one and use that to promote your book and get others. These are the people in the bookselling trenches, they can really help you. Especially the independent booksellers. They are an aspiring author's best friend.

Jen: In the constant on-the-go world in which we live, I would think that many of us at one time or another has entertained the thought of just picking up and starting over. You touched upon a theme that I think we all can relate to in some way. How did you arrive at this premise?

Maryann: You're right, running away from one's life is a common fantasy, especially when life becomes overwhelming. We want to start over, reinvent ourselves and our lives. And as I've written, sometimes the things we dream of are not, in the end, the dreams we really wanted at all.

I've reinvented myself several times in my life, first going from writing to real estate, then real estate back to writing. But I think because I've lived in the same small town most of my life, the thought of going someplace new and doing this is almost exotic. I think a setting can transform you. I know each vacation I've spent on Pawleys Island has been just amazing. As soon as my feet hit the sand, I would feel my insides relax, my heart swell and my imagination take off. I wanted to give my character just that. Joanna, the corporate wife, is very different than me, and has had a very different life. But in the end, I think we all want to feel happy and fulfilled inside. And we all want to connect with the place where we live.

Jen: What I like best about your book is the way in which you were able to weave three unique voices into one story. The main characters, Joanna, Paul, and Grace, all have internal struggles that they must come to terms with in order to move on in their lives. Of the three, which character was the most challenging to write and why? Which one could you personally most relate to and why?

Maryann: Actually, Joanna was the hardest for me to write. Maybe because she's a middle-aged woman like me, who's been in a long marriage, it was hard to be objective. But I think it was because I tried to make her so different than me that I had some struggles. I guess I didn't want people to read the book and think I was Joanna.

My favorite character is Paul. Ironically, Paul is most like me in that we both struggled with jobs we were really good at in sales, but that seemed to sap so much out of our lives personally. How do you walk away from a job where you make really good money? But what if it doesn't fulfill you? I had that dilemma during my last years in real estate. I'm also a huge gardener, I love working outdoors, and I feel that we all need to get our hands in the earth. Paul grew and came to realize that money isn't everything and you can happy with a simpler existence.

Jen: Sometimes the secondary characters can steal the show without taking away from the flow of the plot. Please tell us about your characters Hank and Buffy and what significance do they play in Joanna and Paul's lives respectively?

Maryann: Hank and Buffy are the "other" people in Paul and Joanna's lives when they separate. Hank is a simple man, the opposite of Paul, and he teaches Joanna that even grownups need to have fun. She begins to soften and becomes a different person because of this relationship. Buffy is, ironically, another corporate wife in Paul's neighborhood who has the same complaints about her husband that Joanna had about him. Only Buffy is younger and just beginning her corporate journey. She becomes a friend to Paul, the only one he really has, but she seems to want more from him. I think his interaction with her helps him to see, objectively, what his wife's life must have been like when he was gone so much.

Jen: Struggling with an illness is an emotional journey in itself but when facing it alone, it can seem insurmountable. Why did Grace choose to shut out her family but yet allowed Joanna, a total stranger, inside? How are these two women similar? Who is the stronger person and why?

Maryann: Without spoiling the plot, let me just say that Grace's decisions are both selfish and self-less. She wants to finally live for herself, near the ocean, which has always been a dream of hers, but which is inconvenient for her family. Selfishly, she goes anyway, indulging this dream of hers. Her decision to spare her family suffering is a self-less decision, and probably the most controversial part of the book.

I think it's often easier to spill our souls to those we don't have history or baggage with. Gradually, Joanna and Grace warm to each other, and they are similar in that they are both running away and trying to find something.

I think Grace is the stronger, if there has to be a choice. I love her character. She is the quintessential sage we would all love to sit down and have a good conversation with.

Jen: When the hurricane hits the coast, Joanna and Grace decide to ride out the storm rather than seeking higher ground. Would you say that it's the turning point in their relationship? How does it also affect Joanna's relationship with her family?

Maryann: Oh yes, it is a turning point. They both reveal things that night that they've held in for a long time. Things neither suspected of the other. And I think it becomes the stepping stone for Joanna to finally forgive herself for some wrongs in the past, which enables her to soften inside.

Jen: I was fascinated with the story of the turtles and how the hatchlings struggle to make it to the sea. Do you have firsthand experience with this or did you research this topic to include it in the book?

Maryann: I've actually sat turtle watches at nests that were ready to hatch while vacationing on Pawleys Island. Let me tell you, there is nothing more beautiful than sitting on that beach on a warm summer night, with the world asleep and the moon coming up over the ocean. It is absolutely magical.

I never did get to see them hatch. But sitting there I heard the stories, and it wasn't hard to envision. And then I did do some research at a place near Topsail Island in NC, where they had baby loggerheads they were helping.

Jen: What is your favorite line from the novel and why?

Maryann: Ooooh, that is so tough. But I'd have to say it is the very last line of the very last page. It still gives me chills because I feel like I "nailed" it, as they say in the Olympics. But I can't give that away. It would be cheating your readers.

Jen: What message, if any, are you sending the readers by writing this book?

Maryann: There are several themes running through this book that are near and dear to my heart. First, that it is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of our lives that we do end up losing sight of our dreams. And even pieces of ourselves. Let's face it, each year the pace of life just seems to get faster and faster. If we don't take control of our own lives somehow, and take time for ourselves and the things that are important to us, a lifetime can go by before we realize it. Who wants to have those kinds of regrets?

Paul is a perfect example of that. The ultimate corporate warrior, he had someone tend to all of his personal needs, be it his wife or his secretary. When all of that was taken away, he began to realize that there was so much that he missed. And began to really enjoy and cherish.

As for Grace and Joanna, the duties of being a wife and mother eclipsed their own wants, as it does for most women, until enough time went by that when their children were grown and gone, they'd all but forgotten their early dreams.

Another message I truly believe is that we as humans have become much too far removed from our physical world. In past centuries, people were in touch with nature each and every day. I love nature. Gardening, walking in the woods, listening to the birds in the springtime as they mate and build nests in my yard. These are my happiest moments. We need to bring nature back into our lives. And our children's lives, as well.

Jen: Are you currently at work on your next novel? And if so, would you mind telling us about it?

Maryann: Yes, I'm actually coming close to finishing it. It is a sandwich generation novel called SO HAPPY TOGETHER. I think so many of us can identify with that situation. My character, Claire, is a woman in her forties who raised her daughter alone, and is about to finally spread her own wings, but then-the rug gets pulled out from under her by both her daughter and her parents. It's about how when you're a mother, or a daughter, you're never really free. And now Claire has to decide how far she's willing to go to achieve her dreams.

Jen: Please tell us about your website. Do you blog? Do you have e-mail notification of upcoming releases? Do you participate in author phone chats? And if so, how would my readers go about arranging one?

Maryann: I have a website that can be reached by either going to http://www.maryannmcfadden.com/ or http://www.therichestseason.com/. Either one will get you to my site. I do blog, about this incredible journey, and also about the long story of getting the book published finally. Anyone who's ever wondered about the publishing business, or just loves books, would find it an interesting story.

I do have an e-newsletter I send out every few months, so I don't bog people down, but it keeps them abreast of exciting happenings and new things to come, as well as where I maybe appearing for an author signing or book club or media appearance. It's also my way of personally thanking my wonderful readers who have been so incredibly supportive. There's a link to sign up to my e- newsletter on each page of my website.

And yes! I do author phone chats, book club meetings in person or via the web cam. Readers can just e-mail me at [email protected]

Jen: Thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to speak with me. I truly loved your book and wish you much success!

Maryann: Thank YOU so much, Jen, for this great opportunity to tell your readers about my novel! I really appreciate it!!!

I hope you have enjoyed my interview with Maryann McFadden. Please stop by your local bookstore and pick up a copy today!

Okay, it's time for the trivia question. Answer the following trivia question correctly and you could be one of five lucky winner to receive a copy of THE RICHEST SEASON. Good luck!

What is the title of Maryann's upcoming release?

Next month, I will be bringing to you my interview with Kathleen McCleary from HGTV.com. You won't want to miss it!

Until next month...Jen

When a twist of fate landed Jennifer at the "Reading with Ripa" roundtable discussion with Kelly Ripa and Meg Cabot, she knew that her career as a French teacher would essentially be over. Instead, she figured out a clever way to combine her love for reading and writing and "voilà" She became a book reviewer and columnist with www.freshfiction.com. On the sidelines, her parents secretly hoped that her French degree from Vanderbilt would one day come in handy and Jennifer is happy to report that the phrases ‘Je ne sais pas' and ‘C'est incroyable!' have been quite useful when reviewing certain selections! As is typical in her whirlwind life, one thing led to another and soon she found herself facilitating a popular moms' book club and writing a column she cleverly named Jen's Jewels. (Jewelry is one of her many addictions, as is the color pink and Lilly Pulitzer, which when you think about it, would probably make for a good story! Hint! Hint! ) To keep herself away from her favorite retailer, Ann Taylor, she serves on the Board of Trustees of the Harford County Public Library in Maryland. As a national trainer for The Arthritis Foundation's Aquatic and Land Exercise Classes, she is an advocate for those like herself who suffer from arthritis, the nation's #1 cause of disability. When asked how she manages to do all of these things and actually get some sleep at night, she simply replied, "It's just Par for the Course." Hmm! Now where have we heard that before?