When Char Hawthorn's husband dies unexpectedly, she is left questioning
everything she once knew to be true: from the cozy small town life they built
together to her relationship with her stepdaughter, who is suddenly not bound to
Char in any real way. UNTETHERED explores what
bonds truly form a family and how those bonds can be tested and strained. Char,
a college professor, wife and stepmother to a spirited fifteen-year-old
daughter, loves her family and the joyful rhythms of work and parenting. But
once her husband is gone, the “step” in Char’s title suddenly matters a great
deal. In the eyes of the law, all rights to daughter Allie belong to Lindy,
Allie’s self-absorbed biological mother, who wants to girl to move to her home
in California.
While Allie begins to struggle in school and tensions mount between her and
Char, Allie’s connection to young Morgan, a ten-year-old-girl she tutors, seems
to keep her grounded. But then Morgan, who was adopted out of foster care,
suddenly disappears, and Char is left to wonder about a possible future without
Allie and what to do about Morgan, a child caught up in a terrible crack in the
system, and causes Char to once again question her connections to the people she
loves and the entire meaning of family.
Author Julie Lawson
Timmer, an attorney by training and profession, zeroes in topics that seems
pulled straight from the headlines. She talks to Fresh Fiction columnist Yona
Zeldis McDonough about the cross over between the two professional worlds she
inhabits and how she uses one to inform and amplify the other.
Julie Lawson Timmer grew up in Stratford, Ontario. She now lives in Ann
Arbor, Michigan with her husband Dan, their four teenage children and two
badly-behaved labs. She is a lawyer by day, a writer, mom/stepmom, fledgling
CrossFitter and dreadful cook by night.
YZM: How did you get your start as a novelist?
JLT: I have always loved writing, but it wasn't until 2011 that I decided to
take a real shot at writing a novel. I lost a friend to cancer that year, and I
was so enraged for her sake that I felt I had to express my feelings, and
writing made the most sense to me. Also, I was turning 45 that year, and for
some reason, that felt momentous to me. I did some soul searching and decided
that in another 40 years, as my days were coming to a close, the one biggest
regret I would have is not trying to write a book and see if I could get
published. I decided I didn't want to live with that regret, and that the time
was now, so I promised myself I would have a draft of a novel completed by my
birthday. I met that goal, and as a reward, I booked myself a seat at a writer's
conference, promising myself I would have the novel revised in time to pitch at
the conference. I did pitch it there, and while those pitches didn't lead to
representation, I learned so much at the conference and made some lifelong
writer friends, and those things combined helped me revise the book again and
again until I finally landed my agent, two years after I began writing the novel.
YZM: Does your work as an attorney influence or enhance your work as a
writer?
JLT: I don't know that my day-to-day work as an in-house lawyer influences my
writing. I do know, however, that my training as a lawyer and my prior job as a
private firm litigator have helped my writing enormously. Litigators have briefs
to file all the time, often on little notice. We are used to writing fast and
efficiently, whether we feel inspired or not, because we don't want to commit
malpractice or be fired for failing to write the thing and get it filed with the
court on time. So, we don't wait around for the muse or other inspiration to
strike, and we spend very little time staring at a blinking cursor on a blank
screen. Instead, we WRITE. I carried that training with me in writing my first
book and have carried it for all other books since. I don't insist on certain
background music, a certain location, a certain kind of coffee, or any other
inspirational sort of thing: I just write. Lawyering also teaches time
management, which is helpful to anyone who intends to write a novel while also
holding down a job and balancing kids and home life. It also teaches outlining,
and structuring a narrative in a way that is clear and concise. All of these
things are great skills for a novelist.
YZM: UNTETHERED deals
with both step parenting and with foster case; timely subjects for today’s
readers?
JLT: I think so! There are so many blended families these days; I expect each of
us knows a stepparent or knows someone who has a stepparent, even if we're not
in those roles ourselves. And of course, foster care and adoption have a long
history. In my social media feeds, there are many people who are fostering kids,
fostering-to-adopt, or who have or are about to adopt. The modern family has
changed a great deal, and I think UNTETHERED presents a
picture of the new modern family.
YZM: What do you hope readers come away with after they finish your book?
JLT: I hope readers who are stepparents come away with the sense that they are
not alone in facing the challenges of stepparenting. It's a unique role, and
many stepparents feel misunderstood by their closest friends because those
friends, if not stepparents themselves, often simply don't "get it." I think UNTETHERED shows those
parents that there's someone else who "gets it" and I think that can be helpful.
I hope it is.
I hope readers also come away with insights into the world of foster care,
adoption and "rehoming," and that they will see the many different facets and
challenges in those realms.
YZM: What’s next on your horizon?
JLT: My third novel, MRS. SAINT AND THE DEFECTIVES, is scheduled to come
out in August 2017, and I'm currently writing my fourth. True to my lawyerly
self, I'm outlining it like mad.
YZM: Is there a question you wish I had asked?
JLT: Well, anyone who follows me on social media knows I looooove to talk about
my dear little Miniature Pinscher (MinPin) whom we rescued about 1.5 years ago.
So, I'll pretend you asked how she's doing, and I'll tell you that she is
wonderful! This summer, she has learned to run in the trails near our cottage,
off leash--huge development for her as she used to run away any time she was
given any leeway. This makes the trails much more fun for all of us and I swear
she runs with a very proud expression on her sweet little face. :)
When Char Hawthorn's husband dies unexpectedly, she is left questioning
everything she once knew to be true: from the cozy small town life they built
together to her relationship with her stepdaughter, who is suddenly not bound to
Char in any real way. Untethered explores what bonds truly form a family
and how, sometimes, love knows no bounds.
Char Hawthorn, college professor, wife and stepmother to a spirited
fifteen-year-old daughter, loves her family and the joyful rhythms of work and
parenting. But when her husband dies in a car accident, the “step” in Char’s
title suddenly matters a great deal. In the eyes of the law, all rights to
daughter Allie belong to Lindy, Allie’s self-absorbed biological mother, who
wants to girl to move to her home in California.
While Allie begins to struggle in school and tensions mount between her and
Char, Allie’s connection to young Morgan, a ten-year-old-girl she tutors, seems
to keep her grounded. But then Morgan, who was adopted out of foster care,
suddenly disappears, and Char is left to wonder about a possible future without
Allie and what to do about Morgan, a child caught up in a terrible crack in the
system.
Women's Fiction
[G.P. Putnam's Sons, On Sale: June 7, 2016,
Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780399176272 / eISBN: 9780698407862]
About Yona Zeldis McDonough
Yona Zeldis McDonough is the author of six novels; her
seventh, THE HOUSE ON
PRIMROSE POND, will be out from New American Library in February, 2016. In
addition, she is the editor of the essay collections The Barbie
Chronicles: A Living Doll Turns Forty and All the Available Light: A
Marilyn Monroe Reader. Her short fiction, articles and essays have been
published in anthologies as well as in numerous national magazines and
newspapers. She is also the award-winning author of twenty-six books for
children, including the highly acclaimed chapter books, The Doll Shop
Downstairs and The Cats in the Doll Shop. Yona lives in Brooklyn, New
York with her husband, two children and two noisy Pomeranians.
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