4 June 2015

Author Q&A Session #43: With Sarah McCoy



Good morning and welcome everyone,
The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy is an extremely riveting story that entwines two tales belonging from two very different era and this book proves that the author is a master story-teller who is surely going to win millions of readers' heart not only with The Mapmaker's Children but also with her future books.


Let's see what the readers have to say after reading The Mapmaker's Children:

“McCoy deftly intertwines a historical tale with a modern one… lovingly constructed… passionately told… The Mapmaker’s Children not only honors the accomplishments of a little-known woman but artfully demonstrates how fate carries us in unexpected directions, no matter how we might try to map out our lives.” — The Washington Post

“McCoy carefully juxtaposes the past and the present, highlighting the characters’ true introspection, and slowly revealing the unusual similarities in the two woman’s lives, which leads to a riveting conclusion.”— Publisher’s Weekly

“The Mapmaker’s Children is marked by rich, closely observed storytelling full of warmth and heart.” —Charles Frazier, New York Times bestselling author of National Book Award winner Cold Mountain



“I love the way this novel connects the past to the present. At first, these two heroines from different centuries seem to have little in common. But defining moments of bravery and resilience echo across generations for a truly satisfying story.” —Laura Moriarty, New York Times bestselling author of The Chaperone

“Poignant and deeply absorbing. McCoy weaves this moving tale of two women finding their way with style and thoughtfulness.” —Madeline Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Orange Prize winner The Song of Achilles

“Sarah McCoy has illuminated a forgotten corner of American history with her signature empathy and spirit.” —Mary Doria Russell, author of Doc and Epitaph

“Linking a contemporary woman named Eden with the daughter of abolitionist John Brown is a provocative idea, and McCoy has the skills to pull off something talk-worthy.” —Library Journal, Hot Book Club Reads for Summer 2015

“Engaging and emotionally charged…Eden’s realization that ‘what fable and history could agree upon was that everyone was searching for their ever-after, whatever that may be’ neatly sums up the novel’s heart—it’s about the family and the life we create, not always the ones we imagine for ourselves.” —Kirkus Reviews

“In vibrant yet unassuming prose, McCoy tells a story of womanhood past and present, asking big questions about family, courage and love. Readers will enjoy solving the historical puzzle of the doll’s origins, but the book’s true strength is its portrayal of Eden and Sarah: two brave women bound together by the difficult, noble work of building worthwhile lives.”  — Shelf Awareness

“A fascinating peek into the personal life of the legendary John Brown and keep the pages turning. The Mapmaker’s Children serves as a reminder of how objects persist, such as Sarah’s doll, and how memories connected with those objects can last through generations.” —BookPage

Read my review of The Mapmaker's Children

So many readers are gushing about this book and today it is an incredible honor for me to interview this exceptionally talented and skilled New York Times best-selling author. Sarah is here at Book Stop Corner to talk about her book, The Mapmaker's Children, her other creativity, her journey and her life beyond books.

So scroll below to read the interview and get intrigued by Sarah's words and world!!



Me: Hello and welcome to my blog, Sarah. Congratulations on your new novel, The Mapmaker's Children.

Sarah: A pleasure to visit Book Stop Corner! I was so honored by your gorgeous review of The Mapmaker's Children. Thank you again for embracing the book and cheering for it. It's my delight to chat with you and your readers here. 


Me: What inspired you to pen this story, The Mapmaker's Children?

Sarah:  The inspiration for each of my novels has come to me differently. Published friends tell me how they are consistently inspired through a specific story vehicle: a historical character, political agenda, visual image, emotional struggle, color, food, etc. I can't say that I have one. My Muse likes to throw her bolts in various forms. I've never had a story come to me in the same way. The Mapmaker's Children began with a sentence being spoken ...

"A dog is not a child," the woman, Eden Anderson said. And it was the way she said it that wouldn't let me be. Confident, angry, and yet, deeply wounded by the very words she spoke. I couldn't shush her no matter what I did. Months of hearing this over and over in my head nearly drove me to the madhouse. That's when I knew: this wasn't just a passing statement, it was a character haunting—begging—summoning.

In an effort to find relief from my insomnia, I wrote the sentence and its corresponding scene in the journal. I realized then that the voice was echoing through and out the front door of an old house—the house in New Charlestown. It was calling me to solve its Underground Railroad mystery set between Eden Anderson in present-day West Virginia and Sarah Brown 150 years ago.


Me: How did you research for this particular book? Did you travel extensively for this purpose?

Sarah: The Underground Railroad has always been a fascinating element of Civil War history for me, but it wasn't until Eden and Sarah's home called that I became completely absorbed in it. The research for this story took me from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, to Concord, Massachusetts, to Red Bluff, California. I followed Sarah's trail, piecing together her legacy map. I wrote about that extensive research process in the "Author's Note" in the back of the novel.


Me: Tell us one trait of each Sarah Brown and Eden Anderson, you two protagonists, that intrigues you the most?

Sarah: It's so hard to pick just one for each of these inspiring women. They share so many attributes! Personally, both inspired me to be a braver, bolder, stronger woman, unafraid to map my life legacy outside of the constraints of convention. Sarah Brown said, You're okay, Sarah McCoy. Eden Anderson said, You're okay, contemporary readers everywhere. Together they said, We're okay, sister women. That was their inheritance to me, and I pray to everyone who picks up this book.


Me: Was it is always your one true dream to be an author? How will you describe your journey so far as an author?

Sarah:  I don't think I knew exactly what I wanted to be as a child, but I knew storytelling would be part of my future. Growing up, I just wanted more. If that makes sense to anyone else. I had this compulsion to gobble knowledge, to seek out the unknown, and try to be recognized as more than my outward appearance. You see, I was intensely shy as a child. A bookworm. An introvert. I found more kinship and stability with make-believe characters and writing than I did with people. Perhaps that was a product of my military upbringing. My dad was a career Army officer. I was an Army brat who moved every few years— perpetually the out-of-towner, the new kid on the block, the outsider. My momma says she always knew I would be a writer, and I suppose that old axiom rings true: momma is always right.

My author journey so far? It's been a blessed uphill mountain climb. Strenuous but exhilarating. I'm still on the rocky road, writing muscles burning, eyes fixed on the high places, pushing forward to new territory. I pray that at the end of my life, I'll reach the summit, turn around, and see from above that every step was part of a greater pathway. I believe that's Sarah Brown's current vista, too.


Me: What did you expect your readers to get away with after reading the book, The Mapmaker's Children?

Sarah:  Oh, so very much! But I'll limit my answer to one of the overarching themes: nurturing and defining a family. As a global community, I believe we've allowed a worrisome stereotype to become the high mark of good family model. We've constructed a rigid mold for what a happy family looks like and anything different is somehow... less. It weighed heavily on me, and I began to ask questions: Can you be a devoted parent without physical procreation? Does a loving, fulfilling family have to consist of children? Does being a parent only apply to humans or can you parent/nurturer animals or a righteous cause? Who wrote the prototypical happily-ever-after and might each of us have the power to rewrite it?

I noticed that a majority of my friends (men and women, couples to singles) were uncomfortable—even disgruntled—by my questioning of the status quo in group settings. Yet in private, they admitted that they internally battled these very constraints. Again, it perplexed me. Why weren't we able to have an open conversation? Why were people afraid to challenge the norm? And what happened to those who didn't attain the set parent-child-family vision—was their family and legacy not as good as those who did?

Being an author, I sought answers through my characters. I learned from Sarah Brown and Eden Anderson. I changed through my journey with them. I hope readers of The Mapmaker's Children are willing to ponder the questions and possibly discover keys to their own hearts.


Me: What other passions do you have, apart from writing?

Sarah: My dog!  He's a four-year-old, 10-lb. Frenchman of the Coton de Tulear breed. His name is Gilbert—Gilly for short—and he rules our house like Napoleon. I also love traveling abroad with my husband, Doc B (an orthopedic surgeon in the Army). Again, I'm sure this is a reflection of my military life. I love experiencing exotic cultures and coming home with a bounty of memory treasures. Story seeds, usually!

 
  
Me: How will you describe writing schedule?And how do you deal with stress after a long day's work?


Sarah: Doc B describes my writing schedule as "diagnosable obsessive compulsive" on good days and "maniacal semi-psychotic" on bad ones.  Point: I don't stop. I'm in author mode 24/7. When the story calls, I write—be that at a normal work hour of 9 a.m. or a deranged 3 a.m. Weekends are not freebies. Not even holidays are 100% holidays. One Christmas, I got up from my in-law's gift exchange to go to my bedroom and quickly pen out an idea. I never know when a story bolt will strike and unlock a chapter or scene I'm working on. But I'll be darned if I miss it!

I happened to love a long day's work. It means I got words on the page. A new piece of the story puzzle in place. Even if I'm exhausted, I'm happy tired. I love cooking. Many of my author friends don't, but I really enjoy making one, solid, pull-out-the-cookbook meal a day. The rest is usually microwave or cold cuts specials because life is busy. But one meal, I like there to be more than three ingredients. I like putting out the white plates, silver forks and knives, linen napkins and vase of roses from my desert garden—setting the dinner table scene. Doc B and I sit down to sup and enjoy a glass of white wine together while he tells me about his day. It relaxes me to hear his stories and not the ones running around my head for an hour.


Me: What's next up on your writing sleeves? Please tell us briefly about it.

Sarah:  I'll continue to tour for The Mapmaker's Children this summer: online blog visits, bookstore events, Skypes with libraries, summer author series, and book clubs. Then I'm headed to literary festivals across the country in the fall. When I'm not on book travels, I'll be hunkering down in my writing office working the next novel. I don't typically breathe a word about the subject matter of my book babies until they are ready to be hatched. What I can share is that it's another contemporary-historical dual narrative, turn of century and today; but the location is quite different from anywhere I've ever gone before. To quote Doc B, "Book 1 was 1960s Puerto Rico. Book 2, WWII Germany. Book 3, Civil War Virginia. And now this?? After 17 years together, you'd think I'd know your imagination."

Don't blame me. I'm just the writer. I go where the characters point. And oh man, am I having a great time journeying to exotic, ancient territories with this next book! I can't wait to share more tidbits with readers in the coming months.


Me: Thank you so much Sarah for joining me today in this interview session. I'm highly honored. I wish you luck for all your future endeavors.

Sarah: Thank you for having me on Book Stop Corner. It's one of the most lovely and insightful book caches in the online book community. Your reviews are perceptive, intelligent, and heartfelt. I'm the honored one. I hope this is the beginning of a lifelong reader friendship. I'm sure we'll chat on Twitter soon, my friend.
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Sarah's Bio:



SARAH McCOY is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the novels THE MAPMAKER'S CHILDREN, THE BAKER'S DAUGHTER, THE TIME IT SNOWED IN PUERTO RICO, and "The Branch of Hazel," a novella in GRAND CENTRAL.

The Baker's Daughter was praised as "a beautiful heart-breaking gem of a novel" by Tatiana de Rosnay and "a thoughtful reading experience indeed" by Chris Bohjalian. The Baker's Daughter was a Doubleday/Literary Guild Book Club selection and a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Historical Fiction in 2012.

Sarah has taught writing at Old Dominion University and at the University of Texas at El Paso. The daughter of an army officer, her family was stationed in Germany during her childhood. She currently lives with her husband, an army physician, and their dog, Gilly, in El Paso, Texas.




Connect with Sarah on: Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

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