Coming of Age/ Fiction/ Historical Fiction
Date Published: December 10, 2024 (Paperback) / March 11, 2025 (Audiobook)
Publisher: She Writes Press/Tantor Media
Narrator: Aoife McMahon
Run Time: 9 hours and 39 minutes
From multi-award-winning historical fiction author Ashley E. Sweeney
comes a family saga about the Irish immigrant experience spanning New York,
Chicago, and Colorado so compelling that, USA Today best-selling author Kelli
Estes says, “I read this story in one sitting.”
Thirteen-year-old Mary Agnes Coyne, forced from her home in rural Ireland in 1886 after being accused of incest, endures a treacherous voyage across the Atlantic alone to an unknown life in America. From the tenements of New York to the rough alleys of Chicago, Mary Agnes suffers the bitter taste of prejudice for the crime of being poor and Irish.
After moving west to Colorado, Mary Agnes again faces hardships and grapples with heritage, religion, and matters of the heart. Will she ever find a home to call her own? Where?
Interview
What is the hardest part of writing your books?
The middle! Before I begin a novel, I know the beginning and the ending. As a “pantser,” one who writes without an outline, the middle unfolds in curious ways. Of course, I have a general idea of the plot arc and character arc, but I allow the writing to flow organically. Also, I do not write chronologically. Instead, I rely on emotions to guide my writing. If I am angry, I channel that anger on the page in whatever scene demands it. If I am excited, I use that energy on the page in a different scene, and so on, depending on my mental and emotional state. This technique leaves the possibility of holes in a narrative, so I am conscious to weave all elements together in the third draft.
But I never have writer’s block, which plagues so many authors. My mind is always in overdrive, so words spill onto the page at a rate far slower than my mind!
What are your most played songs?
For each of my novels, I create playlists to invoke the mood of the novels as I write, mostly instrumental music, both classical and contemporary. But I shy away from music with words; words of songs compete with words in my head and words on the page.
Below are a couple of items on each of my playlists:
For The Irish Girl: Braveheart Soundtrack, James Horner; Outlander Soundtrack, Bear McCreary
For Hardland: Dancing with Wolves Soundtrack, John Barry; Legends of the Fall Soundtrack, James Horner
For Answer Creek: Before Barbed Wire, George Winston; In Reverence, David Tolk
For Eliza Waite: December (full album), George Winston; Impressions (full album), David Tolk
Do you have critique partners or beta readers?
Both. Since spring 2020, I have met monthly with three critique partners, Gretchen Cherington (Poetic License; The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy), Shelley Blanton-Stroud (Copy Boy; Tom Boy; Poster Girl), and Debra Thomas (Luz; Josie and Vic). We read each other’s work monthly and offer feedback. Since 2020, we have published 10 novels collectively!
Re: beta readers, for every novel, I send my second draft to a set of 6-8 beta readers for feedback. Only two beta readers remain the same each time. I rely on these readers to tell me what works, what doesn’t work, who/what they’d like to see more (or less) of, scenes they’d like deleted or added, etc. Their feedback is invaluable and I use many of their suggestions.
The following is a template I use for each novel:
Opening/Ending
Q: Did story start at the right place? End at the right place?
Conflict
Q: Are there too few and/or too many internal/external conflicts within character?
—Consider love, hate, lust, fear, self-doubt, anger, pressure, drive, disappointment,
revenge, naivety, failure, moral dilemmas, etc.
Plot
Q: Were characters’ problems clearly defined near the beginning of the novel? By
the end of the novel, did you feel they were resolved adequately?
Q: Are there scenes that do not further the plot? Which one(s)? Or scenes you wish
had been added? Where? With whom?
Q: Could the novel be improved by more subplots? Again, where? With whom?
Pacing
Q: Did narrative move along at an adequate pace? Did it bog down? If so, where?
Q: Are there too many/too few flashbacks?
Characterization
Q: Were some characters hard to keep track of? If so, who?
Q: Do you wish for more character development for any main or secondary
character? Again, if so, who?
—Consider physical descriptions, flaws, reputations, beliefs, preferences, habits,
talents, abilities, relationships, etc.
Setting
Q: As a reader, were you transported to the time and place of the novel?
—Consider geographic location, historical period, weather, culture, attire, language,
role of women, occupations, transportation, etc.
Language:
Q: Is narrative written clearly? If not, comment.
Dialogue
Q: Is dialogue consistent with characters’ personalities? If not, comment.
What book are you reading now?
I usually read three books at a time, one fiction, one nonfiction, and one inspirational. I’m nearing the end of Claire Leslie Hall’s Broken Country (gutting); halfway through Finding Beauty in a Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams (interesting/thought-provoking); and devouring Pope Leo XIV: Restless Heart, Faithful Shepherd (enlightening).
Like many readers, my TBR stack is chest high and no, I can’t help myself buying new books every month. In January, I buy one new book; in February, two, etc., ending in December when I treat myself to 12 new books.
In a given year, I read upward of 100 books, not counting books for research.
How did you start your writing career?
My whole life has been framed by reading and writing. My father read to me before I could I read, and from the age of five, I have never been without a book.
My first published piece was in my junior high newspaper, and since then, I’ve worked on junior high, high school, and college newspapers, literary magazines, and yearbooks. I began writing poetry in my early teens and have never stopped (after reading over a raft of teen poems lately, I’ve improved greatly over the years!)
After graduation from college, and a one-year-stint as a VISTA volunteer, I worked as a small-town newspaper journalist, as well as writing free-lance articles for various parenting magazines, before turning my attention to education.
I began novel writing in earnest in my 50s. Since then, I have published four novels: Eliza Waite (2016); Answer Creek: A Novel of the Donner Party (2020); Hardland (2022); and The Irish Girl (2024).
Tell us about your next release.
Deep into my next novel, set at an elite prep school for girls in Tucson in the 1930s, tentatively titled, The Desert School for Girls. Told from a braided point of view, the novel hinges on a lie that upends that affects three young women as they come of age. With luck, I’ll find representation in early 2026. I’m confident it will make a great book club book!
About the Author
A native New Yorker, Ashley E. Sweeney is the multi-award-winning author of four novels, The Irish Girl, Hardland, Answer Creek: A Novel of The Donner Party, and Eliza Waite. She graduated from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. with a degree in American Literature and American History and spent her career as a journalist and educator before turning to writing full-time. When she is not chained to her writing desk, Sweeney is an avid gardener, art quilter, and mosaic artist. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and Tucson.
Contact Links
Purchase Links
No comments:
Post a Comment