Author Interview

My guest author today has an important story to share with us. Please help me welcome Theresa Shea to the interview hot seat! Let’s glance at her bio and then find out more about her and the story she has to tell.

Theresa Shea is the author of two novels. The Shade Tree, winner of the 2020 Guernica Prize for best unpublished literary fiction, and winner of the 2022 Georges Bugnet Award for fiction. Her debut novel, The Unfinished Child, was a finalist for the Georges Bugnet Award and the Alberta Readers’ Choice Award. 

Shea was born in the US and moved to Canada in 1977. A graduate of McGill University, Queen’s University, and the University of Alberta, Shea is currently working on Dog Days of Planet Earth, a novel that examines animal rights and the climate crisis through the historical lens of the nuclear experiments conducted by the United States Government between 1945 and 1992.

Author Social Links: Website * Instagram * Twitter

Betty: What inspired you to write the story you’re sharing with us today?

Theresa: In August of 1963, when I was three months old, my mother took me to the March on Washington and held me in her arms as Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his now famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The civil rights movement was in full swing. Change was wanted and needed. It was an exhilarating time. Yet over fifty years later, racial inequality still thrives.

To understand the present, we need to understand the past. In The Shade Tree, I wanted to explore some of the damaging narratives that white people have inherited. The first narrative we are introduced to in life is the family narrative. How are we shaped by it? How does it define us? Why do some people blindly accept that inheritance while others question it?

Betty: What, if any, new writing skill did you develop while working on this story?

Theresa: I developed two key skills while working on this book: 1) patience to do multiple revisions, and 2) perseverance to bounce back from repeated rejections. Both will continue to be valuable during my writing life.

Winning the Guernica Prize was amazing. In addition to a cash prize, I also received a publishing contract. The novel came out the following year. One acceptance wipes out a lot of rejections. That the book went on to win best novel of the year in my Canadian province was equally wonderful and gratifying.

Betty: Did you struggle with any part of this story? What and how?

Theresa: Yes, while I wanted to highlight the damage of white supremacy, I struggled to know how much abuse against Black people to show. I didn’t want the violence to be gratuitous. For instance, there is a lynching scene in the novel that was difficult to write and is difficult to read. It is a pivotal scene that juxtaposes a horrifically violent moment with a community picnic involving so-called upstanding citizens. White readers, in particular, should be horrified by the contrast.

Betty: Which character(s) were the easiest to get to know? Why do you think?

Theresa: One reviewer said my character Ellie Turner is “the most villainous female character” she has ever come across in literature. While she found her to be “beyond redemption,” she also understood, through my character development, “how her evil came to be.” I found that gratifying. An “evil” character must be believable. Sick people are produced by sick societies.

Betty: What kind of research did you need to do to write this story?

Theresa: I wrote The Shade Tree over a nine-year period and dipped in and out of research throughout that time. The internet is a fabulous resource. I watched footage of civil unrest, revisited the March on Washington, and more. I also read extensively and paid close attention to the Southern American writer and social critic Lillian Smith, who lobbied against Jim Crow laws, segregation, and wrote about the taboos surrounding interracial relationships and the failure of so-called Christians to be charitable and good.

I also read a significant amount of history about, and novels set in, the period covered in my book.

Betty: How many drafts of the story did you write before you felt the story was complete?

Theresa: Oh my. That’s a difficult question, and I’m not certain I know, but I’m going to say approximately eight to ten.

Betty: How long did it take for you to write the story you’re sharing with us? Is that a typical length of time for you? Why or why not?

Theresa: I started The Shade Tree in 2011, and it was published in 2021. That’s a faster timeline than my first, The Unfinished Child, that took thirteen years. However, my life circumstances had changed too. I started my first book when my second child was six months old. I moved twice and had another child during that period, so I was primarily focusing more on child-rearing, out of necessity. To be honest, it took longer to get my second novel published than I expected. In the end, however, I’m grateful because it’s a better book having undergone so many revisions.

I’m hoping that my next novel, Dog Days of Planet Earth, will move along at a faster pace. I started it in April of 2019. My children are young adults now, and I have more time to devote to writing. Even so, my novels take time to fully reveal themselves. Having more time hasn’t translated to writing faster. If I can finish a novel in five years, I would think that’s a good pace. One of the benefits of aging is I have more patience for the process.

Betty: What rituals or habits do you have while writing?

Theresa: I do my best writing first thing in the day. My morning routine is to get up, make coffee, toast a bagel, and read some spiritual writing that sets me on the path to being a good human for the day. Then I go to my studio out in my backyard and give myself a pep talk. If I have a gift for writing, I ask to be deserving of that gift. I ask for the critical and doubting voice inside to be silenced. Once I am far enough into a work, I get excited to visit my fictional world and to spend time with my characters. So, there are stages of writing that are definitely more enjoyable (because they are easier) than others.

Finally, I think often of Ann Patchett’s simple equation: “Time applied equals work completed.” It’s shocking to think it can be that simple.

Betty: Every author has a tendency to overuse certain words or phrases in drafts, such as just, once, smile, nod, etc. What are yours?

Theresa: Good question. I have no idea! Maybe my readers could let me know.

Betty: Do you have any role models? If so, why do you look up to them?

Theresa: My role models are people who have strong moral compasses and are true to their convictions, no matter the repercussions. Social justice people, certain spiritual leaders, activists that challenge the status quo, to name a few.

Betty: Do you have a special place to write? Revise? Read?

Theresa: Since November of 2018, I am fortunate to have a backyard shed, insulated and heated, in which to write. It was a decrepit shed filled with old paint cans and lawn mowers and insulation rolls left by previous tenants. One day I looked at it and thought, “it has potential!” A friend did the renovation work, and it has been life changing. Also, my timing was great. I used to work in coffee shops and libraries. When Covid hit in 2020, those spaces were no longer available. That my studio was already complete was lifesaving.

Betty: Many authors have a day job. Do you? If so, what is it and do you enjoy it?

Theresa: I left my full-time job working at the city in late 2019 because I wanted time to finish some writing projects. Then Covid hit. I have been precariously self-employed since then.

Betty: As an author, what do you feel is your greatest achievement?

Theresa: I feel my greatest achievement as an author is writing books that move people.

Betty: What is your favorite genre to read?

Theresa: Literary fiction.

Betty: Success looks different to different people. It could be wealth, or fame, or an inner joy at reaching a certain level. How do you define success in terms of your writing career?

Theresa: Great question. When I was younger, I thought success came from being “known” or signing for a large advance. It was much more about external validation. Now, success is being able to write what I want and taking the time to let the work develop. Success for me is having more patience to let the work breathe and grow and expand.

The Shade Tree is a searing exploration of racial injustice set against the backdrop of some of America’s most turbulent historical events. The lives of two white sisters and a Black midwife are inextricably linked through a series of haunting tragedies, and the characters must make life-changing decisions about where their loyalties lie: with their biological families or with a greater moral cause. From a Florida orange grove to the seat of power in Washington, DC, during the height of the civil rights movement, The Shade Tree tells a sweeping yet intimate story of racial discrimination and the human hunger for justice.

An Editors’ Choice book with The Historical Novel Society, a reviewer said of The Shade Tree: “Mesmerizing, engrossing, and brilliantly plotted, this is an achievement that will echo long after the last page is turned.”

Buy Links: Amazon, * Barnes & Noble & any local independent bookstore

Thank you so much for sharing The Shade Tree with us today, Theresa! It sounds like a wonderful and provocative read.

Happy reading!

Betty

Award-winning Author of Historical Fiction with Heart, and Haunting, Bewitching Love Stories

Visit www.bettybolte.com for a complete list of my books and appearances.

Subscribe to My Newsletter to learn the inside scoop about releases and more!

Inspiration for a story comes from anywhere and everywhere, as my guest author today will make clear. Please help me welcome Mim Eichmann to my interview hot seat! A quick peek at her background and then we’ll find out more about her and her writing process.

A graduate from the Jordan College of Music at Butler University in Indianapolis, IN, Chicago-based author Mim Eichmann has found that her creative journey has taken her down many exciting, interwoven pathways as an award-winning published lyricist, short story author and songwriter, professional folk musician, choreographer, by-lined journalist, and now, author. Her debut historical fiction novel, A Sparrow Alone, published by Living Springs Publishers in April 2020, has met with extremely enthusiastic reviews and was a semi-finalist in the 2020 Illinois Library Association’s Soon-to-be-Famous Project. Its much-anticipated sequel, Muskrat Ramble, was published by LSP in March 2021 and has garnered equally enthusiastic high ratings. Both novels are bestsellers. Her thriller, Whatever Happened to Cathy Martin, was published Aug. 9, 2022.

Author Social Links: Website * Facebook

Betty: What inspired you to write the story you’re sharing with us today?

Mim: When I attended my high school reunion back in Washington, D.C., after many decades of having lived in the Midwest, I had a chance to talk with classmates I hadn’t seen since our graduation. Without the advantage of the internet, most of us had gradually lost touch with one another over the years and drifted far apart. Inevitably, there were those few classmates about whom none of us had heard anything, and for whatever reason, the question crept into my mind: what if they’d met with a foul end? Whatever happened to those friends with whom we’d secretly shared our first breathtaking romantic encounters or complained bitterly about a totally unfair grade on a history midterm by slipping a cryptic note through the slats of one another’s hall lockers? Would we ever know?

Betty: What, if any, new writing skill did you develop while working on this story?

Mim: Since I’d lived through this time period¾1968-78¾and I was not writing about an actual crime or historic characters as was the case in my first two historical fiction novels, this definitely gave me the liberty to develop all the characters in the direction they took themselves, allowing them to play out their idiosyncrasies through the confines of the plot which was a nice breath of fresh air!  This was my first book where I could go back and reorder sequences and/or characterizations as the characters and plot dictated while I moved along.

I can’t say that I ever felt I was writing as a “pantser” (i.e., writing from the seat of my pants), but I was able to step away slightly from being a “plotter” (i.e., writing from a strict plot) as was dictated from my first two books. In reality, I’ve always been something of a “plodder,” which is my own definition of my writing style, lol… I’ve been known to spend an entire day writing one paragraph or dialogue sequence before I think I’ve gotten it right. I’m completely in awe of those authors who diligently fulfill their NaNoWriMo quotas every November¾I’d fail miserably!

Betty: Did you struggle with any part of this story? What and how?

Mim: Yes. There’s a violent rape scene at the end of the book. I felt it definitely needed to be included but was afraid how it would be perceived by the average reader. Thus far, no early reviewers have called me out on it. Also, in general, the story takes a young married woman infuriated by her husband’s infidelity down an ever-darkening, murky rabbit hole as the book progresses. I’ve made every attempt to make my main characters as three-dimensional and interesting as possible keeping within the framework of that era without resorting to obvious stereotypes. Sometimes that was also a struggle and I had to adjust accordingly.

Betty: Which character(s) were the easiest to get to know? Why do you think?

Mim: Well, my main protagonist, Denise Prescott, is very loosely based on me all those years back, since I worked as a journalist at that time for The South Bend Tribune in South Bend, Indiana, and dealt with many of Denise’s same problems. Historically, so much was shaping our world during the decade of ’68-’78 and often we forget how long it took for mainstream society to truly embrace many of these social reforms.

Betty: What kind of research did you need to do to write this story?

Mim: Typically, my h.f. research involves delving into lots of letters, diaries, journals, photographs and non-fiction works from the time period. In this case, however, I enjoyed going back through newspaper archives, reviewing all the Sherlock Holmes movies that featured Basil Rathbone to acquire the quotes at the top of each chapter, streaming all the Columbo and Rockford Files episodes available, as well as watching countless hours of Forensic Files, a show that often discussed murders that had been cold cases for decades. DNA research was still in its infancy back then and had not yet been used for criminal investigations. The extraordinary movie The Conversation (1974) starring Gene Hackman and John Cazale reveals the moral dilemma a surveillance expert faces when his recordings reveal a potential murder. This movie gave me terrific insight into the security surveillance equipment available and its usage at that time.

Betty: How many drafts of the story did you write before you felt the story was complete?

Mim: Since I tend to move along at a glacial pace as a writer, one of the advantages is that not too much of the manuscript needs major tweaking¾that’s not to say that everything was perfect! There were definitely plot holes that needed serious attention! Also, there were a few scenes I dumped completely, reversed in order and/or expanded or condensed. For example, my protagonist Denise has a romantic encounter with a detective in a trucker’s hotel. When I first wrote this section, Denise was attracted to the man but what might have ensued by way of actual romance was interrupted by a phone call. Later I decided this ‘encounter’ needed to actually occur, otherwise this section seemed too much like some kind of cutesy, cozy mystery device (which this book is not), so I rewrote that entire section, lengthening it considerably, and the phone call¾actually the detective’s pager buzzing¾occurred several hours later.

Betty: How long did it take for you to write the story you’re sharing with us? Is that a typical length of time for you? Why or why not?

Mim: Since the book was written almost entirely throughout the Covid isolation during the winter into spring of 2020-2021, it was something of an escape for me, so not typical of any time frame in my opinion.

Betty: What rituals or habits do you have while writing?

Mim: Even though I’m a morning person, I’ve found that I’m almost always writing from mid to late afternoon until about 9 or 10 p.m. when I’d stop to check in with the local news, then sometimes continue writing. I need a sense of creative space around me¾clutter drives me to distraction¾so dishes, laundry baskets, mail, other random projects, etc., have all been dealt with earlier in the day. Yeah, I’m one of those people … also, I need silence¾no surprise, eh?

Betty: Every author has a tendency to overuse certain words or phrases in drafts, such as just, once, smile, nod, etc. What are yours?

Mim: My short list of offenders would be:  eh? Uh. So. Replied. Commented.

Betty: Do you have any role models? If so, why do you look up to them?

Mim: My blurb includes a comparison of sorts to Kathy Reichs, who is a forensic anthropologist in real life. I’m thoroughly enamored with her in-depth knowledge in forensic crime solving. Sometimes her plots seem to have a lot of coincidence, but overall, they’re unique. She also employs a terrific set of secondary characters sprinkled throughout. Other contemporary mystery authors I enjoy reading include Stieg Larsson, Faye Kellerman, and Elizabeth George along with the non-fiction work of Erik Larson. My favorite fiction authors are Edith Wharton and Kate Chopin.

Betty: Do you have a special place to write? Revise? Read?

Mim: I have a designated office but almost always end up writing on my laptop on my dining room table. If we’re talking about reading books in general, just about anywhere.

Betty: Many authors have a day job. Do you? If so, what is it and do you enjoy it?

Mim: I retired from my full-time job about five years ago but am also a folk musician playing gigs with my acoustic folk quartet Trillium – www.trilliumtheband.com. I play hammered dulcimer and also sing.

Betty: As an author, what do you feel is your greatest achievement?

Mim: I’ve now written and published three books in just over four years… I only expected to write the first one. I guess I’m surprised how much I enjoy this process, even though at times it’s been extremely tedious and frustrating. I look forward to continuing to research and write novels for as long as possible.

Betty: What is your favorite genre to read?

Mim: Historical fiction, literary non-fiction, mysteries, thrillers

Betty: Success looks different to different people. It could be wealth, or fame, or an inner joy at reaching a certain level. How do you define success in terms of your writing career?

Mim: That’s an interesting question. Certainly not wealth or fame and I doubt that I’ll ever reach a measurable level of literary satisfaction. But to quote my protagonist Denise Prescott’s last line in Whatever Happened to Cathy Martin, “wherever we ended up, I was looking forward to the journey.”

Kathy Reichs meets Sherlock Holmes in this Gothic thriller set in rural southern Indiana in 1978 that seeks to unravel a deadly tangled web of lies surrounding three former high school friends, one of whom has been missing for over a decade… but which one? And why?

Buy Links: Amazon * B&N

I love a good Gothic tale! Thanks for sharing yours with us, Mim!

Happy Halloween and happy reading!

Betty

Award-winning Author of Historical Fiction with Heart, and Haunting, Bewitching Love Stories

Visit www.bettybolte.com for a complete list of my books and appearances.

Subscribe to My Newsletter to learn the inside scoop about releases and more!