The author can be contacted by email at juliemacshane @ yahoo.com (without the intentional spaces around the at sign).
Very short bio:
Julie MacShane is a magazine editor living in southern New Hamsphire with her husband.
Q: What is the third book in the Bette Maguire series about?
A: The third book in the series, On Fire, shows Bette Maguire, five years older than in Torch, battling prejudice and fighting fires as usual. However, a serial arsonist has struck Webster, NH, again, and she thinks that someone who knows her very well is trying to get revenge on her for some wrong she can't even remember. She must gather strength and courage from her team and family around her to discover the culprit before more people get hurt.
Q: Will you write a third book in the series?
A: Maybe. The past few months, I've been taking a break from writing fiction in the Bette Maguire area. It's good to let the creative juices percolate awhile in the brain before undertaking another project. Plus, I really have to be gung ho about doing it. If I'm not gung ho, forget it. It'd be a waste of time. So I'm still searching for something important to say and a plot line that would be interesting to read and fun to write -- another adventure.
Personally, I like trilogies. They're everywhere in literature and in movies. And if you're an author, and you like certain characters, you want to take them as far as you can, to see how far they can grow -- spiritually, emotionally, intellecturally -- or maybe they can't grow. Not everybody can grow. Sometimes they give up on bettering themselves. Why? What other goals can people have? To make other people's lives better, or maybe even more miserable? Hey, I may be getting somewhere here! Revenge -- good, bad, necessary? Interesting. Hmmm...
Q: Why did you write Torch?
A: I felt like Soot and Sweat on Flesh really needed a sequel because the story of Bette and her firefighter-friends wasn't over. There was something I needed to say about the different kinds of love that exist in the world and show what happens when love is taken too far. I also wanted to explore the mysterious, often-unspoken connections between women (Book 1 was mostly about connections between men.) and how Bette would feel conflicted about which world she belonged in.
I also wanted to see if I could actually write another book so that the first one wouldn't seem like a fluke. :-}
Q: How hard was it to write Torch? Was it harder than writing the first book?
A: I actually think writing the second book was a lot easier. The characters and their basic dynamics were in place. It was "just" a matter of putting them in some difficult situations and seeing how they would react. Of course, there was a lot else involved. The book had to have a point for it to exist -- a point that I enthusiastically wanted to explore. Once I figured out what I wanted to say, I had to figure out the best way to say it.
I used the same basic format as the first book, meaning I started with Dramatica Pro software to map out the order of the scenes, and then used my own creativity to fill in the gaps and flesh it out. Torch, completed in late May, took about 2 years to write over weekends and in the evenings and in the mornings and during lunches and on long car rides, etc. It possessed me as much as Soot and Sweat on Flesh and wouldn't let go. I think Torch is a better novel (and about a 1/3 longer), too, in that it's not as predictable. You could categorize Torch as a mystery, but it's also filled with romance and humor, with a lot of surprises along the way. And it's so nice having a short title!
On Writing
Q: Why did you write Soot and Sweat on Flesh?
A: It was a story that needed to be told. I've always been fascinated by what it means to be an individual in a group and how an individual needs to change to fit into the group, or how the group needs to change to fit the individual. Firefighters have to work in groups, to rely on each other for their very lives, so it's important to them. However, they're also very individualistic, strong people by their very nature. So I thought an interesting way to show the story would be to have a very different person -- a strong, independent female firefighter -- learning to get along to do a job that she loved. After all, underneath everything, we're all human -- we're all still just soot and sweat on flesh.
Q: How hard is it to write a book, and specifically this book?
A: For me, it was moderately difficult, but it was also a lot of fun. I've been part of many writers' groups where writers were struggling with the work; it's very difficult to get what you want to say down on paper and have other people understand what you're saying. I give writers a lot of credit. You're putting your thoughts out there and you want them to be appreciated, but sometimes you feel like nobody is listening. That's why writers' groups are so great.
Personally, I think you've really got to want to write the book, to tell the story, to have it mean something important to you and to others, to be willing to give up on every other part of your life so the book gets done. If you don't have a passion in the subject and the characters and the message, then you won't stick with the writing. And if I hadn't had so much fun writing about the characters, their problems and struggles -- if I hadn't had a vested interest in seeing the story get resoloved -- I never would have finished it. I'm not writing War and Peace here; I'm writing a good story that's important to me and yet fun to read at the same time.
Q: Why self-publish the book?
A: I was able to retain complete control of the content of the book, which would not have happened under a traditional publisher. I was able to have an acquaintance design the cover and my brother illustrate the inside pages, not possible with a traditional pub. I was able to keep the title I wanted. The book will never go out of print, and I am completely happy with the way it came out.
Q: What are some of the challenges of self-publishing?
A: I'm finding that the big bookstores don't take me very seriously because I didn't go through a traditional publishing route. A lot of self-published books are not very good -- the process has that reputation -- but a lot of it is very good and they should give us authors a chance to be heard. Also, you are not paid an advance by the publisher. You don't make any money off your efforts until the book is sold. Also, the price of the book is higher than a book with a big printing run from a traditional publisher, but there's not much I can do about it except sell it at a discount whenever I have author copies.
No matter the challenges, the process is worth it to me. The final point is -- my book is out there; rejection letters did not stop it from being available! Knowing that it can be read and appreciated is simply one of the best feelings in life.
Q: Would you publish another book with Xlibris?
A:I don't know. The price they charge to produce the book, plus the prices they actually sell the books at, are very high. The service they provided was very good, but I don't want my readers to have to pay so much for the books. $29 for a hard cover? $19 for a soft cover? Plus $4.50 shipping. C'mon now!
Q: Who are the main characters in Soot and Sweat on Flesh?
A:The protagonist is Bette "Mouth" Maguire, a headstrong woman of 26 who thinks that being a firefighter is a straightforward exercise of her mind and body. The firefighters there, including 30-year-old Joe Griffin, are trying to teach her differently, that life doesn't follow a textbook, that there is a lot more to being a firefighter than fighting fires. Joe and Bette are partners and eventually consider each other to be more than just co-workers: they are attracted to one another. Their Lt. Patrick Keane senses this attraction and knows it could cause a lot of strain in the squad. He knows that a romance could destroy the integral group workings of the squad. But Keane has no direct evidence of the relationship, and he likes both Joe and Bette, so he does not want to hurt their careers, although he continually tries to point them in the right direction.
Q: How did you decide to construct Soot and Sweat on Flesh? Is there any kind of a pattern to it?
A: The book is lightly broken up into four acts (these don't correspond exactly to the Parts division I use in the book). I used writing software called Dramatica Pro from Screenplay Systems and I highly recommend it. It didn't write the book for me, of course -- only I could do that. However, it did show me how to use certain important theme and character information. This information is a crucial part of the storytelling process in the novel, to make the novel feel complete and the reader satisfied when the end arrives.
It's the first time I've ever written a book this way and it seemed to be more freeing than restricting. I like the software because it gave me a framework and I was able to fill it in with my character and plots. I also banged the framework out of whack in a few places; writing is sometimes as much construction as destruction.
If you want more information on the process, let me know. I will also explain more of it in the weeks to come.
Q: How many revisions did the book go through?
A: I lost count after about 3-4 of them. The first one is usually the quickest -- just to get it out there -- and I don't worry about the typos, the big picture, the color of the sky, etc. until much later on. The last few revisions are about making everything sound nice and mesh together.
Q: How long have you been writing?
A: I first started writing short stories when I was 8. When I look back at them now, I find they're not half bad. Right now, I would find writing short stories difficult. I need the wide-open expanse of a novel's pages to tell the stories I want to tell -- to describe the characters, their dreams and agonies, their landscapes, the humor they find, their relations to others, and how they form a cohesive team.
Q: How long did it take you to write this book?
A: Three years of nights and weekends while working full-time at my editing job. I've written previous versions of a similar book for the past 10 years, but this is the best one I've done -- the one I like the best, too.
Q: Will there be a sequel to Soot and Sweat on Flesh? If so, what will it be about?
A: There will probably be a sequel, but I don't have the story firmly in mind yet. Sometimes when writers talk about a proposed book to others, the "magic" they need to write it well disappears from the project. I've found this to be true. Therefore, I will probably not say much more about it, but that doesn't mean I haven't gotten suggestions for the sequel. A close relative suggested that in the sequel I should kill off firefighter-friend Joe Griffin in a suspicious fire and have Bette Maguire and Rose St. Pierre investigate, while Bette has an affair with Lt. Keane, who's 25 years older than her! (They would make a VERY odd couple!) Interesting idea, but not what I had in mind! Any more suggestions about the plot line of the sequel are welcome and, if good, could be published on my web site.
More of the interview with the author will be posted shortly.
Check back soon.