@WillNorthAuthor on How "Reagan Was Elected & He Threw Me Out" #Contemporary #Fiction

 Location and life experiences can really influence writing, tell us where you grew up and where you now live?

I grew up poor in a neighborhood in Yonkers, New York, which borders the Bronx. But I never felt “at home” there. Then, when I was nearly twenty, I found myself in England and knew instantly that I belonged there. Why, is a long story and the subject of a book I am still working on called, “The Anatomy of Home.” Then, only a few years ago, I happened to be invited to spend a week with a friend on an island in Washington’s Puget Sound. I never left. It is the only place in my native country where I feel I truly belong. It is magical.

How did you develop your writing?

Think of that famous joke: a guy is walking in Manhattan and he asks a passer-bye, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?”  And the man says, “Practice!”  That’s it in a nutshell.  I think of writing as a trade as much as an art, and the way you develop is by…writing!  Do it long enough and hard enough and you’re going to get better, you’re going to develop a voice, you’re going to find you place in the writing world. And maybe a publisher.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

For the first two-thirds of my writing life, the idea of “inspiration” was irrelevant. People hired me to write books. That was my job.  It was a great gig, and very rewarding. But when fiction showed up at my door like an uninvited guest, I had to accept that something else, something deeper, was going on.  What was that deeper thing?  Sometimes I’m well into writing a novel before I know.  It’s usually some underlying theme. In the case of my first novel, “The Long Walk Home,” the theme was the incredible complexity of the concept of fidelity. In “Water, Stone, Heart,” it was a question: How does a woman who was sexually abused as a child and abused later by a spouse ever find the courage and trust to risk an intimate relationship again? In my latest novel, “Seasons’ End,” the theme is betrayal—how a cascade of betrayals can end the history of families who have spent generations at their summer cottage compounds on an island in Puget Sound.

What is hardest – getting published, writing or marketing?

Without question, marketing. Some writers are exhibitionists, others are hermits. I’m one of the latter. I would prefer to be left alone to write. But the publishing world has changed dramatically. Previously, I’d write a book, get a nice fat advance against future royalties, and then forget about it. Now, it’s like a child: I have to be watching it all the time, nurturing it, supporting it. It takes an immense amount of time.

What marketing works for you?

I don’t know yet. We’ll have to wait and see. Promotions on Bookbub sell a lot of books, but at a substantial discount.

Do you find it hard to share your work?

Not at all. The way I learn is by sharing my work with readers I know will be serious about their comments.

Is your family supportive? Do your friends support you?

My family has no choice but to be supportive; I support them!  And yes, my friends are terrific.

Do you plan to publish more books?

Do I plan to keep breathing? Yes, of course.  I’ll know I’m dead when I stop writing.

What else do you do to make money, other than write? It is rare today for writers to be full time…

Nothing. I have always been able to support my family with my writing income. I feel very lucky.

What other jobs have you had in your life?

I had another career entirely in the world of public policy, culminating in a reasonably senior appointed position in the administration of President Jimmy Carter (yes, I’m that old).  It was thrilling, but I was glad when Reagan was elected and he threw me out.

Every summer for generations, three families intertwined by history, marriage, and career have spent “the season” at their beach cottage compounds on an island in Puget Sound. Today, Martha “Pete” Petersen, married to Tyler Strong, is the lynchpin of the “summer people.” In childhood, she was the tomboy every girl wanted to emulate and is now the mother everyone admires.
Colin Ryan, family friend and the island’s veterinarian, met Pete first in London, years earlier, when she visited his roommate, Tyler. He’s loved her, privately, ever since. Born in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen, son of a bar owner, he’s always been dazzled by what he sees of the sun-kissed lives of the summer people.

But this summer, currents strong as the tides roil: jealousies grow, tempers flare, passions clash. Then, on the last day of the season, a series of betrayals alters the combined histories of these families forever.

As in previous novels, The Long Walk Home and Water, Stone, Heart, with Seasons’ End, Will North weaves vivid settings and memorable characters into a compelling tale of romance and suspense.

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Genre – Women's Contemporary Fiction

Rating – PG-13

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Website willnorthonline.com