Recently, I enjoyed reading Eric Maisel’s A Writer’s Space, Make Room to Dream, to Work, to Write (Adams Media 2008).

Similar in pacing to my books Writer Mama and Get Known, A Writer’s Space is written in short, easy-to-absorb chapters that make it easier to squeeze into a busy schedule like mine.

Since we’ve recently moved into a new home, I was primed for a discussion of how a writer carves out a room of his or her own. But I was delighted to discover that this book covers the deeper implications of the topic of space, and not merely the challenges of arranging our physical world.

Of course it does, since A Writer’s Space is written by counselor, therapist, and coach Eric Maisel, whose other incredibly helpful books include A Life in the Arts and Toxic Criticism.

I think when Eric Maisel writes  on these kinds of topics, where he has clearly established a wealth of expertise based on many years of experience and study, he writes at his best. Like a true master, he is able to offer readers many thoughtful take-aways without ever seeming condescending or belying how many times he must have covered this same territory without becoming weary of it. In fact, many chapters on what might otherwise be dry topics are playfully literary in the hands of such a skillful writer in his own right.

If you have not had a chance to pick up, A Writer’s Space by Eric Maisel, PH.D., I highly recommend it, especially for the writer who is having difficulty establishing enough “space” to get his or her writing done in a way that is satisfying and fulfilling.

Enjoy!

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Did you read The Last Will of Moira Leahy?

You did? It was fantastic, wasn’t it?

Well, on Tuesday we are fortunate to have the author, Therese Walsh, swinging by to answer our questions about her debut novel.

Please post your questions below to join in!

And if you haven’t read The Last Will of Moira Leahy, you are really missing out on a special book. (If you dare, you can view my video review here.) I hope you will pick up a copy just as soon as you can. Why not ask your local library to add it to their collection?

Here’s some of my questions to kick things off:

Looking back on the entire journey of conceiving the novel, writing the novel, rewriting the novel, and promoting the novel…is there anything you would do differently?

At what point do you or did you feel ready to say goodbye to these characters and hello to the characters in your next book? Do you work on more than one project at a time?

Of all of the advice you’ve read and given novelists, what is the one, most crucial piece of advice for the as-of-yet unpublished writer?

Thanks, Therese!

Everyone else, feel free to chime in with your questions!

Q: What is The Last Will of Moira Leahy about?

TW: At its simplest, The Last Will is a women’s fiction novel about a professor of languages, Maeve Leahy, coming to terms with the loss of her twin, Moira.

But it’s never been that easy to explain. It taps into the magic of twins through a second narrative, called Out of Time, which introduces you to the girls when young, and eventually explains what happened to Moira and why Maeve changed as she did. It’s also about how Maeve’s present-day life is altered after winning a Javanese dagger called a keris one night at auction, and her journey—including a trip to Rome—to better understand both the blade and herself. So even though it has a women’s fiction heart, it borrows heavily from other genres, including psychological suspense, mystery, family saga, romance and mythical realism.

Q: What kind of research went into writing The Last Will?

TW: I have file folders—real and virtual—full of information on musical prodigies, foreign languages, twin phenomena, Maine, Rome, Trastevere, the keris, Javanese culture, wayang shadow puppets, empus, resident physicians, post-traumatic stress disorder, survival guilt, art, antiques, sailing, pop culture, university schedules, card tricks, cabbies, how to talk like a guy, and more! I have travel guides, maps, and plenty of books—including a few obscure ones, like Old Gypsy Madge’s Fortune Teller and the Witches Key to Lucky Dreams, published by M. Young in 1880, and The Keris and other Malay Weapons, published by the Council of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.

I traveled to Castine, Maine—a coastal community—to get a feel for the place, talk with the people who live there and ride on the Penobscot. I felt truly inspired by the story of the drummer boy ghost.

Rome was even more critical to the story, because specific aspects of the city shaped the plot and revealed character. I learned a lot about it by reading guidebooks, but the best information came from Adam Nixon at RomeBuddy.com. He was terrific, explaining obscure details of the city, including the types of happenings you’d find in Rome around the holidays.

Q: Can you give a synopsis of how you got your deal? Is it a good story?

TW: I’d been working on my manuscript since 2002, in one form or another. Last Will started as a traditional romance and then morphed into something Other—but not before I finished it and had it rejected as a romance, after two years worth of work. One agent, Deidre Knight, gave me some advice: “You should be writing women’s fiction.”

After much deep thought, I realized she was right, so in 2005, I started over. In 2006, after realizing I *still* hadn’t gotten it right, I scrapped most of a full third of the novel and began again.

I finished in early 2008, wrote my query and started submitting. A Big Time Agent asked for a partial, then rejected, but not before passing along the name of a coworker who might connect with the work. I queried her, and soon after was asked by her assistant for the full. And then, strangely, Big Time Agent contacted me again.

“You’ve made our assistant cry with your story,” he said. “I’m going to reconsider. Stay tuned.” Later we spoke on the phone. “I’m probably not going to tell you what you’re hoping for,” he said. “Really, I have a lot of questions.” The bottom line was that he just didn’t get certain aspects of the story, key components that I’d believed in wholeheartedly. But if I wanted to revise—drastically—he would look at it again.

If ever there was a time I wanted to quit trying, toss my manuscript in the trash and pretend I’d never dreamed a dream, it was then. But something inside me rebelled against his opinion. Big Time Agent was wrong. The book was ready. I believed it.

So I wrote a new query, printed a new synopsis, mailed a new submission to another agent—Elisabeth Weed. And she asked for the partial and then the full, and later called to tell me she loved the book. She became my agent, and sold my book to Random House a few weeks later in a preemptive two-book deal.

Q: This book took you years to finish. How did that lengthy writing process affect the story? And what kept you sticking with the story for such a long time?

TW: The story became richer and revealed more of itself with every draft, even during the final edit once the deal came through with Shaye Areheart Books. Over time, I understood more about writing and became more confident in my abilities.

Little things kept me going over the years. A rejection letter was taped beside my desk for the longest time. Other snippets from other positive rejections were there, too:

You’re a luscious writer, with loads of vivid details and language.
There is something about your prose that it unique and captivating.
You have great potential.

When you’re an unpublished writer, not sure if you’re “wasting” your time or not on your work, it’s important to hang on to all the positives, even to surround yourself with them as I did. But I think the most important thing that kept me committed to this story was the story itself; it just wouldn’t let go. It haunted me, in a way. I had to write it.

Q: Many families encounter guilt, deception, and loss. Were you interested in these themes before you began working on the book? What interested you in them?

TW: When I first sat down to write this story in 2002, I didn’t have a single thing planned regarding theme, but by the time I started the big rewrite in 2005, I understood that this book was about acceptance. To fully explore acceptance, I had to explore its opposite; denial can and does lead to things like deception, loss, guilt and more.

I don’t know why acceptance became the main theme. Maybe because I’m an introvert and somewhat of a social nerd. Or maybe it’s just what the book needed.

Q: What’s next for you?

TW: I have a two-book deal with Shaye Areheart and am working on the second book now. It’s a story I’m excited about—similar to The Last Will in some important ways (e.g. involving intertwined narratives that dovetail, a rich body of mythology, travels in order to find oneself, themes of acceptance, and more), but it’s different, too. The characters in this second book are, in a word, quirky. And quirky can be a lot of fun to write.

Come back on January 5th to ask Therese your questions. In the meantime, if you like, you can go ahead and start putting your questions in the comments and Therese will answer them then.

If you haven’t read the book, there’s still time, over the holidays to grab a copy and join us! Get your copy today.

Here’s two more things to note about Therese Walsh’s website that add all new depth and interest to a good read of The Last Will of Moira Leahy.

Frankly, I was aware of all of this extra info before I read the book, but I steered clear of it because I didn’t want anything to bias my response to the book. But now that I’m done reading and diving into all of these resources, I am, frankly, amazed at the depth and richness of them.

I shouldn’t be suprised, this reminds me a lot of my experience reading the book.

Therese answers questions about the book from author friends.

Also, you may know that Therese is a co-founder of Writer Unboxed, a blog for writers. (My only complaint is that I don’t think this blog is searchable. Help!)

More of your guided tour to The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh coming next week.

I missed yesterday, so I want to point out two more cool things on Therese Walsh’s website that add value to reading The Last Will of Moira Leahy:

Here’s a page that describes Therese’s research.

& here’s some of the writing that ended up on the cutting room floor.

What an interesting idea to treat your readers to some of the same kind of behind-the-scenes information, like you’d normally get as “extras” on a DVD.

As my friend Meryl pointed out, these “tidbits” are most interesting once you’ve read the novel. I hope you will join us in reading and discussing The Last Will of Moira Leahy. (Amazon link)

I’m interesting interested in hearing other readers first impressions of The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh.

We will be discussing it here, at a leisurely pace, all month.

Today, I wanted to share something from Therese Walsh’s website. (Note: you can turn the site music on or off, according to your preference.)

Maeve Leahy’s Photo Journal

Such a clever idea to post your main characters photographs.

I thought these words and images really captured the characters essence without giving away too much of the book.

See what you think!

[Thanks to Meryl K. Evans for the close read.)