It’s always nice to support a local author, and that’s just one reason why I am very happy to welcome Oregon author Kathleen McCleary to the giveaway today. Please help me welcome Kathleen!
Introducing Kathleen McCleary
Kathleen McCleary grew up in Michigan but after living in Oregon for 12 years considers herself a native Oregonian. She graduated from Williams College with a major in comparative religion. She went on to law school, where she quickly figured out that she never wanted to be a lawyer and dropped out to become a bartender. She finally found her niche in writing, and has worked as a writer and editor for a variety of newspapers and magazines.
Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Ladies Home Journal, More, and Good Housekeeping. She has written three novels: House and Home; A Simple Thing, which was recently nominated for the Library of Virginia Literary Awards in fiction; and Leaving Haven.
When she’s not writing, Kathleen teaches writing. She has taught as an adjunct professor at American University, and is an instructor with Writopia Labs, a non-profit that teaches creative writing to kids. She has also worked as a barista in an independently owned coffee shop, and a bookseller for Barnes & Noble. She enjoys crafting things and has, over the years, learned how to knit, hook rugs, sew, carve wood, make dovetail joints with hand tools, blow glass, and make butterscotch pudding from scratch. She is fascinated by remote places and has visited Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, Alaska, the San Juan Islands, the Appalachians, and the Adirondacks. She currently lives in northern Virginia with her husband and two daughters.
Learn about House And Home
Ellen Flanagan has two precious girls to raise, a cozy neighborhood coffee shop to run, terrific friends, and a sexy, if irresponsible, husband. And she adores her house, a yellow Cape Cod filled with quirky antiques, beloved nooks, and a million memories. But as her eighteen-year-roller-coaster marriage heads toward divorce, she’s about to lose it all–her house, her husband . . . and her sanity.
Set in the gorgeous surroundings of Portland, Oregon, Kathleen McCleary’s funny, poignant, curl-up-and-read debut strikes a deep emotional chord and explores the very notion of what makes a house a home.
Learn about A Simple Thing
How far would you go to protect your children? Would you do it at the expense of your marriage? How far would you go to protect yourself?
For Susannah Delaney, the answers lie thousands of miles away, off the northwest corner of Washington state. When Susannah discovers her young son is being bullied and her adolescent daughter is spinning out of control, she moves them to remote Sounder Island in the San Juans to live off the grid for a year. Susannah hopes to save her children from the risks they’ve encountered at home, and to come to terms with her own haunted past. But the move threatens her marriage to the man she’s loved since childhood, and her very sense of self.
For Betty Pavalak, who first moved to Sounder to save her own troubled marriage, the island has been a haven for more than fifty years. But Betty also knows the guilt of living with choices she made long ago and actions that cannot be undone. The unlikely friendship between Susannah and Betty ignites a journey of self-discovery for both women that brings them both home to what they love most.
A Simple Thing moves beyond friendship, children, and marriages to look deeply into what it means to love and forgive–yourself.
I asked Kathleen three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:
1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?
I’m middle-aged and am probably better at self-expression than at any time in my life since toddlerhood. I’m more clear on who I am, flaws and all, and more willing to share my self with the rest of the world without the self-consciousness or insecurity or shyness that plagued me when I was younger. So I dance without inhibition at every opportunity, write the truth as I know it in my novels, wear my favorite colors (hot pink) with joy, and admit when I’m wrong. The older I get, the more I understand that we all fail, that our own failings hopefully teach us to be more tolerant of the failings in others, and that if there is one thing that binds us all it is our imperfections. True self-expression is an opportunity for connection.
2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?
Self-expression means sharing my genuine self with others. That means that when I write fiction I let my characters suffer from anxiety, make silly jokes, grieve, lie, try to do the right thing, despair, rejoice. After my first book came out it was very hard for me to read some of the reviews that criticized the protagonist as “too neurotic” or “annoying”—my characters are, after all, all parts of me. But I’ve come to see how different characters resonate with different people, just as in real life I have friends who “get” me on every level, and others who don’t.
I also express myself through teaching, which I love. I work with kids ages 8-18 teaching creative writing with Writopia, a non-profit organization. I have the chance in teaching to express what I really believe about writing with your whole heart, about stilling the small voices of what others might think, what the critics might say, what friends and family might interpret.
3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?
I hope my self-expression, through my fiction, allows others to understand themselves and the world around them in a new way, to feel a connection of some kind—with a character, a situation, an emotion. I don’t mean that to sound grandiose; I just mean that the most gratifying part of writing fiction is hearing from readers who say they related to a character, they cried, they learned something, they understood. As for my self-expression through other avenues, my kids wish I wouldn’t dance so much when my favorite music comes on, but they’re learning to live with it.
And Now, Your Turn…
You remember how this works right?
Please read the complete rules at least once!
I ask you a question.
You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.
Please just respond once, even if you make a typo. 
Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books).
Describe your perfect home, whether it’s the one you have or not. What makes this home perfect for you?
Ready, set, comment! I will hold the drawing tomorrow and post the results here in my blog.
Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway!
And thanks for spreading the word. We will be giving away great books by wonderful women authors all month.
View the complete list of authors and books.
View the giveaway Pinterest board.
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My perfect home could be the house I dream of often, a solar-powered home we hope to build, one of the two houses we’ve previously owned, or the smaller duplex we rent now. It depends on the day. I often dream of a bigger space, a cleaner one, a flat yard. I waver from wanting to have more space for entertaining to wanting more quiet and not having my son and the neighbor be in and out all day. I wish for doors that don’t squeak, floors that aren’t filthy, cupboards that aren’t sticky–it depends on the day. A perfect home is different from a perfect house. The perfect house is a fleeting idea because even a new house will need to be vacuumed in a day or two and older ones will need a new roof eventually. A perfect home is the one that runs smoothly, is filled with contented people, is comfortable, and is a place to love, grow, and relax. I certainly don’t have a perfect house, but despite the clutter I complain about and the unending laundry, my home is perfect because its where my family and I live and love together.
I can definitely say a house is not a home, having moved 8 times in 10 years. But there is something about the layout of space and the feeling of a house that can make it homier (I hope that’s a word!) Our current house is so small that we trip over ourselves coming and going and my husband jokes that our next bathroom could be even smaller — which seems physically impossible! My dream home would include a big warm kitchen with an open concept eating area so I could cook and converse at the same time. It would also include a rumpus room for the kids with enough space to play twister without fear of injury (except from strained muscles!)
My perfect home… for the last three years,until we moved in April, we had been living in a small rental house. It wasn’t long-term perfect by any means, but it was perfect for our current situation: I only had one bathroom to clean, it had a couple large south-facing windows that let in cheerful winter sun, and the rent was cheap. From that house I learned that my ultimate live-there-until-I-die perfect house will have large south-facing windows, only as much space as we need, and a large front porch and back deck with comfy outdoor furniture. But it will definitely NOT have carpet in the kitchen.
Birds singing in the trees, my horse grazing peacefully in the grassy acreage, space to breathe and work, tranquility…
My perfect home would have an auto-clean feature throughout. It would have a huge sunroom with lose-yourself-into furniture for reading and relaxing, a waterfall wall (I have seen this in a friend’s home), and a skylighted atrium with plants. It would also have a library and a craft room. More important than physical features, my perfect home would be a place of refuge and peace, a place I would truly feel I belong.
My current home has become my perfect home. To the outsider looking in it certainly wouldn’t look perfect, but I’ve come to believe it is necessary to bloom where you are planted. And for now we are planted and growing in this home. It’s perfect to me because it is cozy for my family, not too large makes cleaning easier for me. Not too expensive keeps costs and carbon footprint low. Not a lot of closet space keeps clutter to a minimum. Smaller spaces leaves less room for acquiring more furniture – it’s filled up so we are done decorating or spending time on that. The yard is just big enough for a garden and a dog, but not too big that it takes hours to maintain. The one major downside for me is no separate office space for me. I’d love a cozy office of my own.
I could go on and on about this one! My perfect home would be surrounded by plenty of trees and be situated on at least an acre. The walls would be painted in various “Coastal Living” colors. The kitchen would be the nicest room in the house, because that’s where we spend most of our time. Other must-haves are hardwood floors, plenty of built-in bookshelves, a wraparound porch and a screen-in porch in the back.
I was just reading a book to my daughters about home being
where you feel safe and are with the people you love. I can buy that. As for a place, I love our home right now. It’s cozy and full of memories. Oh, I’d like a mudroom and an upstairs bathroom. I’d love to be closer to the ocean and have more woods around us, but I wouldn’t give up our neighbors. Home is the place we are making in this space, literally putting down roots in gardens.
I have been thinking about my perfect home for awhile.I have yet to figure out what it is, exactly, but it would have to be someplace that I am happy with my kids. Preferably with a space for everyone to have a little something of their own, a porch to relax on and maybe visit, a place in the backyard to play, garden and hang out, and in a nice little neighborhood. Or not! Sometimes I want a farm, too. I can’t decide if being close to or far from people would be better!
My perfect home is where I can relax and feel free to be myself and be with my family. Of course, I’d love a summer house on the beach and water access with the sun warming me while I sleep with soft breezes washing over my body, but I’m pretty content to have that summer house live in my dreams. And occasionally, I will visit my dreams on a vacation time and spend real quality time on the beach.
In my ideal home, I read, write, drink wonderful varieties of teas and occasional coffee, eat lovely desserts, and take many moments to realize that I’m relaxed.
Homes and houses, there is a difference. We have a home and it is my perfect one–the one I am living in right here and now. It is old by fifty-five years, with two full stories and black shutters to its claim. Walk inside and you will see the clutter of books and the daily business at hand. A dog and a cat compatible like peanut butter and jelly are lounging usually nearby. The walls carry family history with candid photos, a lithograph collection of the little city where I grew up and the intricate needlework of my late mother. So much of my home has “a story.” The living room is home to my beloved black piano that I have had and hauled with me since I was in the second grade. One corner, in the spacious upstairs hallway, harbors a mini museum of school days gone by, complete with old two old desks and a school clock from my late husband’s country school. Down the hall is a massive bookcase filled with books of my childhood and my children. Everywhere I turn I feel my life, I feel my home. It is a perfect home.
Tranquility and nature, birds singing in the surrounding trees all day, my horse peacefully grazing outside on acreage, a library with rows of books I have read and loved and with a beautiful wooden desk with a comfy chair to write my books. and a place for my well-loved cat to sit in the sun and watch me work…
My perfect home has a hammock or swing on a big porch, a big eat in kitchen with a country pine table and deep sink and gas range. It is near a beach and has a garden fun of vegetables, berries and fig trees with a strawberry patch. The bedroom is upstairs with sloping ceiling and there is a big claw foot tub in the bathroom. The weather is warm with a gentle breeze and my husband and kids are around reading books. There is a big airy room for my quilting machine and a desk looking out a sunny window into the garden. It is perfect for me because I can indulge all my passions and people I love in one place.
My perfect home is filled with love, joy, laughter, art, books, and music. It’s a place where people gravitate to, where they can soak up the joyful bliss of being in the present moment among friends and those who are 100% authentic. Beauty, nature, and sharing are central to my perfect home. Energetically, my perfect home is a transformative place, a healing place, a place for rejuvenation and creation. Come visit me!
I tried to post my answer last night, but kept getting kicked off the site. I think it may have been the finicky website connection at the beach house. Now that we’re home, I going to try to post anyway because my house is perfect. A bit small, but perfect because it’s in the heart of Silicon Valley, and thus close to my clients, but has a big backyard that I’ve worked on and in since 1977. It’s my haven full of ferns and bonsai and flowers and tons of rocks I’ve collected a few at a time whenever we go to the beach house.