Interview With Fiona Cassidy Q: Why did you want to start writing? I’ve always been a passionate reader so for me it was a natural progression to want to write my own novel. My parents were both primary school teachers and fostered a love of literature in me from an early age. I had ambitions to become a newspaper journalist and had actually been offered a place to complete a journalism degree at one of the most prestigious universities in Edinburgh, Scotland but unfortunately wasn’t in a position to accept it as I got pregnant with my son Colm when I was eighteen. The ambition never went away, however, and continued to bubble under the surface whilst I raised my family and held down a full-time job. I think the catalyst for me was when I read a book about adoption several years ago. It annoyed me as to my mind the author had no idea about what they were talking about regarding the feelings and emotions experienced when embarking on a search for birth roots as I had done myself so I decided to write my own fictional story about it (with no research required) and it’s now being published in August! Q: You received a three book publishing deal in April 2009. How did you celebrate the fabulous news? I celebrated with friends and family but to be honest was so completely shell shocked at the beginning that I could hardly absorb it fully! Getting a publishing deal for me was a dream come true and although we all have dreams and aspirations we never really expect them to come to fruition! I am in the very privileged position of having an extremely supportive partner, Philip, who always shared the dream with me and continues to do so in whatever I do! He took me away for a lovely (child free) weekend to Dublin several weeks after I secured my deal and it was pure bliss! Q: Your first novel, Anyone for Seconds? is all about broken families. What can we expect from your second novel, Anyone For Me? Anyone for Seconds? is a humorous look at modern family life and explores the trials and tribulations of single parenthood and step-families. As a step-mother to Philip’s children I am able to write confidently about the subject although I do have to stress that the horrendous teenage step-daughter in the storyline wasn’t based on any of our daughters!! Anyone for Me? is the story of Ruby Ross (who is one of the main characters in Anyone for Seconds?) and how she goes on an adventure when she embarks upon a mission to trace her birth mother. The book is of a comedic nature but deals with some serious topics. I like books that make me laugh out loud but provide solid storylines about every day issues which is what I try to achieve with my writing! As with Anyone for Seconds? (which reached no. 6 in the Irish Fiction book chart) readers can expect more laughs and appearances from characters they got to know in the first book along with lots of thrills and suspense! Q: You’ve said you write want you know, and you’ve lived the life as a single parent. What do you think was the hardest part for you in being a single mom? I think it’s hard to watch your children growing up and feeling somehow different from others who’ve come from the typical ‘nuclear’ family where both parents are together and involved in their children’s lives. In my own personal circumstances my husband and I separated when I was four months pregnant with my daughter Úna and I found the experience of going to ante-natal appointments and scans alone and having no doting father in the labour ward very difficult to deal with. It’s also very hard to admit that you’ve obviously made a mistake. I was very young when I got pregnant and married and had to return to my parent’s house after I gave birth which I found very hard after living away from home for several years. Thankfully, however, I wasn’t on my own for very long. My partner Philip and I have been together now for ten years and he has been the best father my children could ever have wished for! We’ve since had a daughter of our own, Áine, and it’s wonderful to be bringing her up together in a stable and happy environment and knowing that she won’t have to deal with issues that the older children have had to deal with. Q: What do you think you would be doing if you weren’t writing? As I love working with the public and am very outgoing and sociable I suspect I would be doing something within marketing or public relations. I already have a scant working background in this area but recently gave up my job as I want to concentrate more on my books! I couldn’t picture myself doing anything else other than writing, however, and would love to make a full-time career out of it. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen! Q: What character would you say you are most like from Sex in the City? I don’t think I can pigeon hole myself into being one particular character. I can see myself being a combination of Carrie with her creative writing side and witty observations on life whilst displaying similar traits to feisty Miranda with her constant juggling between work and life as a single mother. As for Philip he’d probably like me to be more like Samantha! Q: Any guilty pleasures you can share with us? I don’t have much time to indulge in many pleasures but I have to say I love getting away with Philip on our own. He has taken me several times to a spa hotel in Westport, Co. Mayo who provide reflexology and Indian head massage as part of their weekend package! Obviously this doesn’t happen very often as we have commitments to our children and also as finances simply wouldn’t allow it but it is something I really enjoy and think that every couple need! As for me on my own I just adore eating chocolate, having bubble baths and reading when I can! In fact I’ve been known to do all three at once! Q: If you could trade lives with one other person- anyone!- for one day, who would it be and why? I’d love to be in government for a day! I’d relax taxing laws, give better benefits to single parents and couples with young children and put a large dent in third world debt! I’d also make myself chief executive of a worldwide publishing conglomerate and give a new author from Northern Ireland called Fiona Cassidy the opportunity to make all nationalities laugh! Q: What is your best advice for aspiring writers? I would advise anyone who is interested in writing to go along to creative writing classes and surround themselves with people who have similar ambitions as you can learn from each other and pick up writing tips! There are also plenty of online forums and websites that would provide support and advice in this area! I would advocate reading as much as possible and ask them to familiarize themselves with publisher’s guidelines if they wish to submit manuscripts for consideration! It’s also useful to have an agent but not essential as I got my publishing deal first and had to choose an agent afterwards as I had three offering to represent me at one stage! An agent is a Godsend when it comes to negotiating contracts and understanding what way the market works. They also give invaluable editorial support! Above all I would advise people not to give up on their dreams. If writing is something you really want to do I would continue. It’s all too easy to get disillusioned as I myself was on many occasions but it’s about picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and tackling every rejection with a steely determination to succeed the next time! Q: Where would be your dream vacation? I’d love to take the whole family away on a holiday perhaps to Disneyland or to Australia as we have relatives there who we haven’t seen in a number of years! However any holiday with the family where everyone is happy and relaxed would be a dream for me!
Cali is leading two very different lives. While a graduate student earning high grades in her archeology field and working to finish her master thesis, she also works as a sensual massagist, working with a handful of other young women that are trying to get by in life. Cali struggles with finding normalcy, even though the only men she is meeting is for her services, and her friendships are with women who perform those same services each night. She desperately wants out of the shady business, especially after she is drugged and raped by a client, and a cop poses as a client to bust the illegal acts. But she knows that she can’t hold down a regular job while trying to finish her studies, and the money she makes is too good to refuse. Intimate Encounters is the debut album from author Sierra Michaels, and is a genuine piece about the struggles many women must deal with. The heroine is wondering if she made the right choice about her chosen field of study, but feels she has come to far to turn her back now. And she knows she can’t keep on leading this double life to make great money if she wants to be able to settle down with a man. Though the novel talks openly about extremely proactive subjects, I never felt I was reading a ‘dirty’ book. Instead, I felt truly touched by Cali and the decisions she needed to make. Encounters is a favorite of mine, mostly due to Michaels being able to take this character who is unsure about her life and is going down the wrong path, and be able to set her straight. It was a long journey for Cali, and I think readers will not only respect the decisions she made along the way, but find the inspiring message lying within.
Author Wendy Wax is hosting a fun contest for her novel The Accidental Bestseller, which is being published May 25th. Readers need to send in a picture of them reading The Accidental Bestseller on a beach- any beach!- by August 1st and they will be entered to win beach bag of books by some of Wendy’s favorite writers! Visit www.authorwendywax.com click on ‘Join Wendy's email list,’ fill in the form, attach your photo, and hit 'submit' to enter. Photos will also be posted on Wendy's facebook page. Be sure to friend Wendy so that you can see your shot! I know I’ll be sending in my picture...I just have to find a beach first! Pre-order your copy below from Amazon and take that pic!
The Summer We Read Gatsby By Danielle Ganek Two half-sisters search for the “thing of utmost value” in an inherited ramshackle Southampton cottage in Ganek’s witty new novel (after Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him). The story is narrated by introverted, newly divorced, would-be writer Cassie, but the flamboyant center of the story is her older half-sister, Peck, a theatrical socialite determined to “bring out” her sister while thwarting Cassie’s sensible plan to sell Fool’s House, the cottage they’ve jointly inherited from their eccentric aunt Lydia. As they wonder whether the house’s treasure is a Jackson Pollock painting, a first edition of The Great Gatsby, or a family secret, the sisters’ contrasting personalities clash in hilarious ways. During a summer marked by parties that recall both the artsy milieu of Pollock and the posh extravagance of Gatsby, the two sisters run into long-lost loves, strange neighbors, aggressive real estate agents, and charming artist hangers-on as they ponder the legacy of their beloved Aunt Lydia and their relationship to each other. Even though many of the novel’s revelations can be seen a mile away, getting there is a fun, witty, and surprisingly moving trip. One reader will a copy of Danielle Ganek’s The Summer We Read Gatsby. To enter, leave a comment on this post, comment on Facebook, or sign up for my monthly newsletter. *Contest is open for US residents only* Good luck and a special thanks to Artemis Azima of Engelman & Co. for hosting this giveaway.
I think I have moaned and complained more than enough times on this blog that I have less than stellar eyelashes. I thought about going the Latisse route, but I heard too many horror stories about the side effects from using that product. Then I saw that L’Oreal came out with a similar concept, the Double Extend Lash Boosting Serum. It promised results in four weeks, and those results were longer lashes, more lashes, and less damage to lashes. Since I want all of that, and L’Oreal is a trusted company of mine, I decided to fork over the $12 and give it a shot. My tube is just about empty now, and probably 3 ½ weeks have past since I began use. And my results- well they aren’t great and they aren’t terrible. I have noticed that I lose less lashes when I take off my eye makeup at night. I used to rip out about four lashes on average a night, and now I lose either one or none at all. But I haven’t noticed a real change in their appearance. The directions state to put on the serum in the morning and at night, making sure you have clean dry eyes. There is a bristle-less wand that you swipe on the upper lashes and again on the lash line, like you were putting on eyeliner. When I put it on, I think I see my lashes grow just a tad, but a few hours later, I can’t tell a difference. I was hoping for a more long-term effect, not just a few minutes of longer lashes, but I am grateful that I’m losing less eyelashes. I guess that has to count for something. I haven’t decided yet if I will buy another tube, maybe my lashes are so hopeless they need double the strength to get them to grow!
As I was reading the April edition of Fitness Magazine, I came across an article simply titled ‘Wrong Number.’ The article talked about how research has found that a product’s calorie count could be ‘up to 8% higher’ than the number stated on the label. What does that mean for the health conscious label checkers? Unfortunately, looks like the answer is more work. Fitness reports that with the sheer volume of products hitting the shelves, it just is not possible for the FDA to regulate each and every item, making it harder to know what is the real deal. They have listed the top three ways to avoid common mistakes. The carbs should be ‘equal or greater than the combined total grams of sugar and fiber.’ The example Fitness gave was that if a cookie has three grams of fiber and eight grams of sugar but the label reads just eight grams of carbs, that is an error. If you see a cooked food or pasteurized juice that says it has 100% of the vitamin, that could be wrong. Heat reduces vitamin C, so those foods are highly unlikely to contain high amounts. Double check the label, and if the ingredients include ascorbic acid it is ok- this means the vitamin was added after the processing. The amount of sodium needs to be listed. If salt is included in the ingredients, sodium needs to be printed on the nutrition facts. If sodium is missing but salt is listed, the amount of calories is likely to be incorrect.
Before Maria Murnane started writing, she worked in sports PR for a few years before quitting her career and moving to Argentina for a year. During that time, she played semi-pro soccer and starting working on her manuscript, which then turned into her debut novel, Perfect on Paper. Murnane studied at UC Berkeley, where she graduated with high honors in English and Spanish. She also received a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from Northwestern University. Murnane currently lives in New York and also works as independent business writer.
