10. After three hours in front of a computer, my butt hurts. 9. After six hours in front of a computer, I want to drink profusely. 8. The subjects I can write about are infinite. 7. Blogs are a lot more fun than novels. 6. I cannot outline a novel. I’ve […]
Continue reading Ten Cool Things I learned While Writing SHANTY GOLD
The Irish are not known for their cuisine. But if you can beat this cake for making guests jovial, I’ll eat your yarmulke. I credit Lulu O’Grady for it because she was an Irish tart in my hometown. When Lulu jumped in Buck Creek and killed herself, my mother thought it was over an […]
During the eight years I queried literary agents, approximately a hundred rejections pummeled my self confidence. In truth, I think the number is closer to one-hundred and fifty. After a while, you just stop counting. Some of them were soothing…”I really love your writing, but just can’t think how your book can fit into […]
This morning at my Yoga class, the teacher made an analogy between the struggles we may be experiencing in our lives and the way the plants outside are struggling to break through the winter-worn earth and reach the glorious spring-time sun. I immediately flashed on a garden I saw three years ago. The Poison […]
So, if you’re reading this on St. Patrick’s Day, I’ve probably already had a sip of Tullamore Dew whiskey. Lest you think me a drunken soddette, you need to understand the family tradition which necessitates this. You see, my great grandfather, Peter Hackett, hailed from Tullamore, Ireland—a town known for only two things—the production […]
Elizabeth Bradshaw was the first villain in Shanty Gold. And she was a doozy! It was fun creating her, but I hope to never meet someone like her in person. Elizabeth met Mary Boland at the Cork Harbor and smelled money. In order to set the stage for Elizabeth’s evil intent, I needed to […]
When Mary Boland tells Kamua Okafor that the Irish are just about the most superstitious people on earth, she isn’t far from right. The extreme fear of the Irish crew makes it possible for Mary and Kam to blend her Celtic superstitions and his African voodoo into a cocktail that literally sends the cruel […]
It strikes me sometimes that many young adults spend their time on novels about vampires, zombies, and girls who live in some whacked-out dystopian future. Look, I’ll be the first to admit I loved all three of the Hunger Game books. And the movies, too. Jennifer Lawrence is the perfect Katniss. […]
When the Irish came to America during the time of Shanty Gold,, they were met with prejudice and rejection. N.I.N.A. (No Irish Need Apply) signs covered store windows throughout the major Northeastern cities like New York, Boston and Philadelphia. That was understandable. The Great Famine had driven a million Irish from their homeland and […]
Continue reading Mary Boland and Martin Luther King–Partners in Bravery
When I first introduced Kamua Okafor in Shanty Gold, he was a slave boy in the crew cabin. He had been sexually abused by the sailors for years. After the three crew men raped Mary, I wrote that they threw Kamua on top of her and that he, too, molested her. My very […]