Ann Leary, author of The Good House » Literary stuff

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…

Ann Leary — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:58:31 +0000

Emerging from the bed-desk

Hello Blog, it’s been awhile. Actually, a very long while. I’ve recently received some emails expressing concern about my health and well-being, which is so sweet. I’m doing great. I think I pulled back from blogging, posting maniacally on Facebook and tweeting my brains out on Twitter after the book came out because I was making myself sick with all the self-promotion, and I took it for granted that I was making everybody else sick as well.

But, I’m back! We’re having a beautiful spring here in Connecticut and today I’m crawling out of my bed-desk and heading to Boston to attend Grub Street‘s annual literary conference, Muse and the Marketplace. Grub Street is one of the largest independent creative writing centers in the United States. They have amazing writing workshops for adults and teens, support emerging talents, offer grants and awards and once a year they hold the conference which offers many writing workshops and also helps writers network with each other and with agents and editors. I’m actually teaching a workshop on Saturday. It’s called “Page One, Your Friend or Foe?” We’ll discuss favorite first lines of novels and then discuss the first lines of students’ works in progress.

The reason that I’m so keen on doing a workshop about first lines is because I’m working on a new book and am quite preoccupied with how it should begin. First lines are so important. I rarely read the flap copy of books. I’m not as interested in what the story is about, as I am in how it’s being told. If I find the writing compelling, I want to read it. So I always open a book and read the first page when I’m considering buying a book. I guess the first page is the book’s “curb appeal,” to me, much more so than the cover.

So, I’m interested in hearing your favorite first lines. I’m going to hold off on sharing mine until after the conference.

Spirit of ’76

Ann Leary — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:01:42 +0000

Today I head back to Massachusetts for a reading in Marblehead at The Spirit of ’76 Bookstore. The reading and signing begin at 7 PM and I hope to see some old friends while I’m in town. I’d like to thank my old friend, journalist Laurie Fullerton, for writing this lovely piece in the Marblehead Reporter.

One of the themes of The Good House is the way that small businesses are having a hard time surviving, since they must compete with larger corporations and chain stores. In fact, when I walked through the town of Marblehead recently, I looked for any small businesses that were still there. All but a few had been replaced by national chains. There were signs for several corporate real estate chains but no private firms. There’s now a Starbucks and a CVS, but the little family drugstore has been gone for years.

But the Spirit of ’76 Bookstore is still open and stands on the exact same corner where it has stood since I was in high school. In fact, Bob Hugo, has owned and run the bookstore since 1965! I’m not sure that it is the longest running privately-owned business in Marblehead, but it is certainly one of them.

If you can’t make the signing, but would like me to personalize a book for you or a friend, feel free to call The Spirit of ’76 today at 781-631-7199 and I will sign it while I’m there tonight.

The Spirit of ’76 Bookstore is named for the widely-reproduced Spirit of ’76 painting by Archibald MacNeal Willard. This original painting hangs in Marblehead’s Abbot Hall.

I would also like to add that I have altered a previous post that announced the snow date for my signing at The Hickory Stick Bookshop here in Washington, Connecticut. The reading had been scheduled for last Saturday but was cancelled sue to snow. Instead, it will be on Sunday, March 3rd, at 2:00 PM. Not Saturday March 2, as I originally posted but Sunday.

Definitely Sunday. March 3rd. At 2:00.

Book Signing Cancelled Today

Ann Leary — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 18:38:29 +0000

I am not going to be able to sign books at The Hickory Stick Bookshop as planned today. Roads in Connecticut are closed. Gomer and I will be there on Sunday, March 3rd at 2:00 PM.

Today we’re out playing in the snow.

What a Day!

Ann Leary — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:45:00 +0000

Photo courtesy of Lynden Sculpture Garden

Yesterday, I was driving from Chicago to Milwaukee with my beloved sister Meg and my dear friend Jane. We were heading to Milwaukee, where I was scheduled to speak at the Lynden Sculpture Garden as part of their wonderful Women’s Speaker Series.

On the way, we stopped in Racine, Wisconsin and after much driving around, finally found a home where Meg and I had lived when we were children. Meg and I were just giddy recalling our friends, the places we had played, the pets we had owned, you know, all our adventures. Jane was very polite and didn’t yawn too many times. Then, we were back on the highway, heading toward Milwaukee, when my editor, Brenda Copeland called. Brenda asked, “Has anybody ever called you a bitch?”

“Yes,” I said slowly. I thought she was angry about something I had done.

“Has anybody ever called you ‘baby’?”

“Yes,” was my reply. I thought she was fed up with how immature I am.

Then she asked, “Has anybody ever called you a NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR?” And then I said nothing because I had burst into tears which alarmed Meg and Jane, so I tried to put the phone on speaker, but instead somehow managed to videotape myself with the phone before it flew from my flailing hand and landed under my seat. “Hello? Hello Ann?” came Brenda’s little muffled voice from somewhere beneath my boots. I grabbed the phone to tell her how excited I was, but I was shaking and choking and accidentally hung up on her. Brenda, who thought I was driving, had only heard a loud wailing and then much cursing on my end, and then the phone was dead, and she thought I was dead too.

So that is how I came to know that my book hit the New York Times Bestseller List.

And it happened on the way to Milwaukee. And I’ll always love Milwaukee for the rest of my life.

Last night’s event at the Lynden Sculpture Garden was great because I met so many wonderful women, but the most wonderful of all was our very own “Wendy From Wisconsin,” who has been commenting on this blog for years. As some of you might recall, Denis and met Wendy and her husband Ken at the airport in Rome last summer, quite by happenstance, while we were all awaiting flights back to the United States. Well, when Wendy learned that I was going to be reading and signing books in Milwaukee, she changed her travel plans just to come to the reading!

Wendy and me

Yes, Wendy had booked a flight to San Diego for a trip with her husband and she postponed it to attend the event. Not only that, but she brought the most delightful gift bag filled with wonderful travelers items: luxury bath salts and wonderful little travel-sized face products and teas and Godiva chocolates. She is just the most thoughtful, dear person and I can’t thank her enough. Also, thanks to Alexandra, a cool blogger who brought me a fab Wisconsin hunter’s cap and a Green Bay Packer’s jersey for Denis, who is a huge Packers fan.

I like to incorporate dance in my readings

That’s Meg next to me

So I love you Wisconsin!

Now we’re back in Chicago. I’ll be doing a reading at The Book Cellar tonight. Can’t wait!

Party Pictures

Ann Leary — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 13:38:53 +0000

Posing with Mary Beth Hurt

On Wednesday night, I did a reading/book signing at the Manhattan Upper West Side Barnes & Noble. Well, I should say, I did the signing and the amazingly talented Mary Beth Hurt did the reading! Mary Beth is the narrator of the audio version of The Good House and I’ve blogged before about how thrilled I am with her rendition of Hildy. So it was wonderful to sit back and listen to her read from my book on Wednesday night. Then I answered questions from a wonderfully packed audience. So many friends were there, and so many people that I had not yet met .

Denis, along with my dear friends and fellow Hash Hags, Julie Klam and Laura Zigman threw a lovely party for me afterward and I saw lots of old friends and met a few new friends as well.

This lovely young woman stopped by

And this beauty too!

The Foxiest people were there

And as I mentioned in a prior post, Laura and Julie had the whole party roaring with laughter at their wonderful speech.

It was a great, great night.

Radio Daze

Ann Leary — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 10:53:47 +0000

People’s “Pick of the Week”

On Tuesday, the day, The Good House was published, I woke up at 4 AM, which was, of course too early. I tried to go back to sleep because I needed to be my sharpest self that day. I had a radio interview with Leonard Lopate at 1:00. A live interview. Yes, it would be broadcast live to a million listeners all at once, so I needed to get sleep.

Sleep, I ordered my jittery brain. Go the f%^$ to sleep.

But, no, my brain was on overdrive, careening this way and that, and so I was forced to spring from my bed, make a giant pot of coffee, and began writing a series of frantic emails to my editor, publicist and friends.

My interview with Mr. Lopate happened to be in a building two blocks from my apartment. I was supposed to be there at 12:30, so I only had eight hours to think about clever things to say about my book. When I was unable to come up with anything clever, I tried to just describe my book in a succinct yet appealing way. “It’s about a woman named Hildy Good who lives in a small New England town on Boston’s North Shore, not unlike the town of Marblehead where I grew up. Well, it actually more closely resembles Ipwich or Essex. I didn’t really grow up there, I grew up in various towns throughout the Northeast and Midwestern states, but we moved to Marblehead when I was 14. You know it was hard to make friends there at first but I had this poodle that I very much loved…”

No, too long. I took a deep breath and said, “It’s about a woman whose annoying daughters think she has a drinking problem.” Then I imagined his response would be, “Yes, and…” Because, lets face it, many people have annoying daughters who think they have a drinking problem. Why the hell hadn’t I decided to write about something interesting?

Somehow, by the time I did the interview, I was able to speak in somewhat coherent sentences. Would you like to hear it? Well, you may, it’s here.

Wednesday night, Denis, Julie Klam and Laura Zigman threw a fabulous party for me after my reading at Barnes & Noble in Manhattan. I don’t have time to tell all right now, but I met Katie Holmes for the first time. At my book party! The party was amazing. I’ll just leave you with this photograph of my fellow Hash Hags as they delight a few of my guests with their wit.

Publication Eve

Ann Leary — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:10:39 +0000

Tomorrow The Good House will finally be available in bookstores everywhere! I hope I will see some of you on Wednesday, January 16th at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattan (Broadway and 82nd Street).

In the meantime, Redbook Magazine chose The Good House as it’s February “Must Read” book and included this very kind review in its February issue. They also posted a Q&A in its online edition, and I am reposting it here Thank you Redbook!

REDBOOK Reads: Q&A with Ann Leary

The author of The Good House shares how her childhood informed the novel, her feeling on psychics, and how a literary character can alter your real life behavior.

By Hannah Hickok

Scott M. Lacey

What inspired you to write The Good House, which is quite a departure from your last two books (your memoir An Innocent, A Broad,which chronicles the premature birth of your son while in London; and your novel,Outtakes from a Marriage, about a fictional marriage unraveling after a woman discovers her TV star husband is cheating)?
Several years ago, my husband and I considered buying a rundown house near ours. I knew the owners had many problems — one of which was hoarding animals, so you can imagine the state of the place. I walked through the house with a contractor to see what he thought before we made an offer, and the place was in such squalor that we kept having to go outside for fresh air.

I asked the contractor, who had never met them, “What do you think is wrong with these people?” He replied, without hesitation, “They’re alcoholics.” I hadn’t seen anything that indicated they were alcoholics, but he said he had noticed empty bottles hidden in cupboards, cigarette burns on the counters, and more. Then he said, “I can walk through a house once and tell you more about the people who live there than a psychiatrist could after a year of sessions.” I knew then that I wanted to explore this idea that our homes reveal quite a bit about who we are. That contractor’s line eventually became, more or less, the first sentence of The Good House.

How did growing up in New England inform your depiction of Wendover as the very vivid fictional setting for The Good House?

My family moved to Marblehead, MA from Racine, WI when I was 14. I remember, very distinctly, the first time we drove into Marblehead. It was almost dark, but I could see that this new, old town had something the Midwestern towns of my youth lacked: character. A wicked lot of character. Many of my new classmates had lived in Marblehead all their lives, as had their parents and grandparents. I knew kids who were descendants of Marblehead’s earliest settlers. They had a shared history that I very much envied. I wanted to be like them — to be “of” a place, rather than a newcomer. I was also aware of the way this town had its own personality, and the way each of the neighboring towns had slightly different personalities, each seemingly formed by the collective quirkiness of the characters who founded them. This book allowed me to live out the fantasy I’ve always had, of being a real “townie.”

Can you tell us a bit about the process of creating such a complex and real character as Hildy Good?

I’ve had a few Hildy Goods in my life, and there’s certainly a little Hildy in me. Originally, Hildy was a minor character in The Good House, who was supposed to narrate the story of a scandal in this small seacoast town, but as I was writing, she kept intruding with her own story. This harsh, critical, often funny, and somehow endearing middle-aged woman with an apparent drinking problem kept butting in with stories about her hometown, childhood, and defensive explanations about her drinking. Finally, I made her not just the narrator, but the main character. It just took me a little while to realize that it was actually Hildy’s story that I wanted to tell.

Hildy’s gift of “reading” people is a fun glimpse into the psychic process. What are your own beliefs and experience with this type of intuition?

I did a great deal of research into psychics and mediums while writing this book, and my own conclusion is that there are a lot of so called “mind-readers” who are just doing old-fashioned carnival tricks. They’re guessing. Reading the body language of others. I think it’s especially sad when these types of charlatans prey on individuals who are grieving the loss of a loved one. But I am aware that there are quite a few who seem to be in tune with the spiritual realm in some way or another, and I know that they have brought comfort to many.

Courtesy of St. Martin’s Press

Can you shed some light on Rebecca, the town newcomer’s fraught love life, friendships, and influence on Wendover?
Rebecca is beautiful and wealthy, and she’s an outsider in the small town of Wendover. She’s selfish and narcissistic, and immediately has a run-in with another mother who has a lot on her plate and doesn’t have many of the material things that Rebecca takes for granted. Hildy is quite taken with Rebecca, while others envy her. But for all her faults, Rebecca is very empathetic towards animals and children, and though she has difficulty having healthy relationships with men, I wanted to reveal that she’s not a villain at all. She’s doing the best she can, as are most of the characters in the book.

Can you tell us a little bit about Hildy’s relationship with Frank as a “later in life” love story?

I thought it would be fun to write about a passionate affair between two people in their 60s, because it hasn’t been done much, though I know many middle-aged people who have fallen in love. Frank was actually Hildy’s first lover when they were teens, so when they reunite in the course of this story, the passion is already there. It had just been dormant for many years. I think many people have romantic ideas about their first loves and I wanted to play that out a little.

Who was your favorite character to write about? Who was the hardest for you to relate to?

Hildy was definitely my favorite character to write about. Since she is the narrator, every time I sat down to write, I had to sort of morph into Hildy’s character a little in order for her voice to seem authentic. I think it carried over into my life, because when I stepped away from writing each day, I found that I responded to situations with a little bit of Hildy’s bemused cynicism. I often have inner dialogues with people I am still angry with, and when I do, it’s Hildy’s voice that has the clever retorts I wish I had said in real life. I suppose the person who was the hardest for me to relate to is Wendy Heatherton, Hildy’s rival real estate broker. Wendy is one of those chatty, bubbly charmers who get on my nerves.

What’s the last great book you read?

The last great book I read was Madame Bovary, which I reread last winter during a snowstorm during which we lost power for several days. I hated the book in high school, but when I opened it by candlelight in the middle of that blizzard, I was mesmerized and didn’t put it down for days.

Do you have an all-time favorite author or book?

I read one of John Cheever’s short stories at least once a month. Certain Cheever stories are like an opiate for me: “The Day the Pig Fell Into the Well;” “The Country Husband;” and “The Post of Gold” are a few that come to mind. I don’t know why I find his stories so comforting, as I didn’t grow up in a Cheever-esque environment, or during that era. But I just love his humor and his ability to reveal a sort of graciousness and nobility in regular people who might otherwise be considered mundane.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on another novel set in another part of New England. I don’t like to talk about stuff I’m writing, but I’ll just say that it’s quite different from The Good House.

Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists?

The same advice most writers give: Try to write every day.

A Nice Review

Ann Leary — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:38:17 +0000

If you don’t follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you’ve been spared my ~~brag~~ announcement about my first magazine review of The Good House.

I am just thrilled that Boston Magazine likes my book, especially since it’s set in Massachusetts. Having the very kind reviewer, Matthew Reed Baker call it “one of the best works of Massachusetts fiction in recent memory,” was thrilling. Anyway, it’s always frightening waiting for reviews and you always get some good and bad reviews, so this review was a great Christmas surprise.

We don’t get Boston Magazine, but my sister Meg does, and she took this photo of the article with her phone. Because she’s very clever.

We’ve firmed up some more dates on the Events page of this blog. My first reading/signing will be at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattan on Broadway and 82nd Street. You’re all invited!

All is Calm, All is Bright

Ann Leary — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:23:00 +0000

I loved this morning’s Writer’s Almanac.

For those who aren’t familiar with The Writer’s Almanac, it’s a website and also a radio podcast that offers a daily poem. There are also literary birthdays and milestones mentioned each day, which are always fascinating. It’s a product of American Public Media, Garrison Keillor reads the poems on the podcast and you can subscribe and receive the almanac free, every day. If you like it as much as I do, you may wish to send them a few dollars to help support them. But you don’t have to. You can still subscribe.

Anyway, this morning’s poem was very beautiful and a little sad. Melancholy would be the word, and melancholy is always my mood around Christmas. So happy, but also…you know. Some sadness.

But what I really loved this morning was the following which I am quoting directly from the site:

“It was on this day in 1818 that the carol “Silent Night” (Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!) was first performed at the Church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, Bavaria. Father Joseph Mohr was working there as a young priest, and had written the poem two years earlier.

Legend has it that as Christmas approached, the church pipe organ was broken, threatening a Midnight Mass without music. Father Mohr paid a quick visit to the choir director, Franz Gruber, and asked him to compose a melody for his Christmas poem. Late that night, the two performed the carol as a duet at the Midnight Mass. Father Mohr sang tenor and played the guitar while Gruber sang bass. The song was immediately popular throughout the village, and copies of the sheet music soon began to spread around the country. By the middle of the 19th century, it was embraced throughout Europe, and was being sung by folk singers, church choirs, and in the courts of kings. It is now sung in 300 languages around the world.

Father Mohr died penniless 30 years after that first performance, having donated his entire church salary to care for the elderly. He also founded a school in Wagrain, in the Austrian state of Salzburg. The school — which still stands near the parish house where Father Mohr once lived — provided education for children of the poor. The song’s composer, Gruber, remained unknown in his lifetime, and many believed that “Silent Night” was the work of Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven — a myth that persisted into the 20th century. It wasn’t until 18 years ago that a copy of the original sheet music was authenticated and the original composers were officially credited.

And it was also on this day in 1914 — nearly a hundred years after it was written — that German soldiers along the Western Front began singing “Silent Night”(Stille Nacht) from their frozen trenches. German troops fighting in Belgium began decorating their trenches and singing Christmas carols. Their enemy, the British, soon joined in the caroling. The war was put on hold, and the soldiers greeted each other in “No Man’s Land,” exchanging gifts of whiskey and cigars. In many areas, the truce held until Christmas night, while in other places the truce did not end until New Year’s Day. In one area, the opposing sides played a soccer match together.

British commanders Sir John French and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien disapproved of the truce, and they ordered artillery bombardments on Christmas Eve in the remaining years of the war. Troops were also rotated with regularity to keep them from growing too familiar with the enemy troops in the close quarters of trench warfare. The Christmas truce was a war tradition of the 19th century, and its disappearance marked the end of wartime protocols of that time.”

Wow.

God bless all of you who have family members stationed overseas and all who have lost loved ones this year.

And Merry Christmas to all!

I’m Going Clubbing

Ann Leary — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:04:28 +0000

Do any of you belong to book clubs or reading groups? Because I’ve added a new section to this website called “Book Clubs.” It’s right at the top of the page there. If your book club is interested in reading The Good House, I’d be happy to Skype in for a visit with you. We can chat about the book, and then I’ll post some information about your group and there will be an area here for you to post your own comments as well. What do you think?