Ask the Author: Stephen P. Kiernan
Answered Questions (19)
Stephen P. Kiernan
First things first: My condolences about your dad. I imagine him as a young man, taking that heroic leap, and how he rose to face the great challenge of an entire generation. Gratitude to him.
Second thing: There is a myth that the French people are not grateful for what Americans did to liberate them from Nazi control. I did not see it anywhere in that country during my research. In fact I found the opposite: appreciation and honor everywhere I went. High school kids write reports on the people and hometowns of the graves in the American cemetery, for example. People bought me glasses of the local calvados when I told them why I was there. And there are only two statues of people in all the heralded coast. One is a Scotsman playing the bagpipes, based on a real guy who did exactly that as his countrymen stormed up the beach. Armed with nothing but his music, he was not hit by any of the fire in his direction. And the other one, at the end of a long boulevard, is of General Eisenhower, commander of the D-Day invasion.
That statue might as well be of your dad, for the gift that he gave the French people in his youth, and for his valor in facing possible death as he parachuted into battle.
God bless your dad, and you, and your family.
Second thing: There is a myth that the French people are not grateful for what Americans did to liberate them from Nazi control. I did not see it anywhere in that country during my research. In fact I found the opposite: appreciation and honor everywhere I went. High school kids write reports on the people and hometowns of the graves in the American cemetery, for example. People bought me glasses of the local calvados when I told them why I was there. And there are only two statues of people in all the heralded coast. One is a Scotsman playing the bagpipes, based on a real guy who did exactly that as his countrymen stormed up the beach. Armed with nothing but his music, he was not hit by any of the fire in his direction. And the other one, at the end of a long boulevard, is of General Eisenhower, commander of the D-Day invasion.
That statue might as well be of your dad, for the gift that he gave the French people in his youth, and for his valor in facing possible death as he parachuted into battle.
God bless your dad, and you, and your family.
Stephen P. Kiernan
Hi Judy and thanks for your question. That book came after a long road.
My first experience with hospice was when my mother was dying of cancer in 1993. Her final chapter -- sad, but peaceful and nearly painless -- was a huge contrast with my father's death five years before (a month in an ICU, aggressive interventions, etc).
Then I covered issues in death and dying for a daily newspaper in Vermont, as the Legislature was weighing whether to legalize physician assisted suicide (which they eventually did). With that as a starting point, I wrote a book called Last Rights -- Rescuing the End of Life from the Medical System, which led to nearly 15 years of learning, writing and speaking about hospice, palliative care and advance directives. I worked with medical and nursing schools, hospital boards and legislatures -- as well as families and friends facing those hard times and difficult decisions.
All of that gave me so much to write. I was eager to share some of the stories I'd been entrusted with. And I could not imagine anyone as unafraid of suffering -- even her husband's -- than a hospice nurse. That's how The Hummingbird came to exist.
(By the way, if you'd like me to join your book group virtually, please let me know via my website and let's make it happen! www.stephenpkiernan.com )
Thanks again.
My first experience with hospice was when my mother was dying of cancer in 1993. Her final chapter -- sad, but peaceful and nearly painless -- was a huge contrast with my father's death five years before (a month in an ICU, aggressive interventions, etc).
Then I covered issues in death and dying for a daily newspaper in Vermont, as the Legislature was weighing whether to legalize physician assisted suicide (which they eventually did). With that as a starting point, I wrote a book called Last Rights -- Rescuing the End of Life from the Medical System, which led to nearly 15 years of learning, writing and speaking about hospice, palliative care and advance directives. I worked with medical and nursing schools, hospital boards and legislatures -- as well as families and friends facing those hard times and difficult decisions.
All of that gave me so much to write. I was eager to share some of the stories I'd been entrusted with. And I could not imagine anyone as unafraid of suffering -- even her husband's -- than a hospice nurse. That's how The Hummingbird came to exist.
(By the way, if you'd like me to join your book group virtually, please let me know via my website and let's make it happen! www.stephenpkiernan.com )
Thanks again.
Stephen P. Kiernan
Thank you so much, Frank. I'm delighted that you enjoyed it.
Since that book came out, I wrote and published UNIVERSE OF TWO, a love story set amid the development of the atomic bomb. Now out in paperback.
I'm pleased to say that I have a book coming next spring (again from the fine people at Morrow) that hews close to THE BAKER'S SECRET. It starts in the same geographic area, and begins six weeks after WWII has ended.
It is a story about how a damaged nation rebuilds, and I hope readers will find correlations with here and now in America. There's a ton of art, a torrid romance, and French food in mouth-watering detail.
Next May or June is my hope. Things will move along as soon as I can find a decent title!
Thanks again for your question, and for reading my work.
Since that book came out, I wrote and published UNIVERSE OF TWO, a love story set amid the development of the atomic bomb. Now out in paperback.
I'm pleased to say that I have a book coming next spring (again from the fine people at Morrow) that hews close to THE BAKER'S SECRET. It starts in the same geographic area, and begins six weeks after WWII has ended.
It is a story about how a damaged nation rebuilds, and I hope readers will find correlations with here and now in America. There's a ton of art, a torrid romance, and French food in mouth-watering detail.
Next May or June is my hope. Things will move along as soon as I can find a decent title!
Thanks again for your question, and for reading my work.
Stephen P. Kiernan
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)
Stephen P. Kiernan
Hi Kris. Thanks for reading my work. I'm glad you've loved it. And I am delighted that you asked this question, because Brenda's mom is often reading, which gave me the pleasure of looking up what books were popular at the time.
Betty Smith's novel A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN came out in 1943, so it was just right for her to be reading on page 194.
Likewise on page 54 you'll see her reading another 1943 novel -- JOHNNY TREMAIN by Esther Forbes. This book remains a favorite from my childhood.
Part of the research for a historical novel involves learning the culture of the time: the music, fashions, movies, and yes, books. It's a real pleasure, finding out who won the Academy Award for best actor that year.
For UNIVERSE OF TWO, the biggest reward was in the music. When Brenda demonstrates the organ for a customer, for example, the tunes I have her play are a treat for me. I hope some readers recognize the songs, if only for a moment, as a treat for them too.
Same with the books. Didn't it feel kind of fun to know what book she held?
Betty Smith's novel A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN came out in 1943, so it was just right for her to be reading on page 194.
Likewise on page 54 you'll see her reading another 1943 novel -- JOHNNY TREMAIN by Esther Forbes. This book remains a favorite from my childhood.
Part of the research for a historical novel involves learning the culture of the time: the music, fashions, movies, and yes, books. It's a real pleasure, finding out who won the Academy Award for best actor that year.
For UNIVERSE OF TWO, the biggest reward was in the music. When Brenda demonstrates the organ for a customer, for example, the tunes I have her play are a treat for me. I hope some readers recognize the songs, if only for a moment, as a treat for them too.
Same with the books. Didn't it feel kind of fun to know what book she held?
Stephen P. Kiernan
Astonishing, two great catches of errors that occured in the revisions which neither I nor the copy editors caught. My page numbers are different than yours, in the finished hard cover, but I admire your eagle eye for detail. You'll see these fixed in later editions. Thank you.
Stephen P. Kiernan
Hi Linda. Thanks for the question. I might have noticed those reviews (kaff kaff).
Here's what I can tell you: I perform hundreds of hours of research when I write a historical novel. Of course I'll make mistakes, as any human would, but I do my utmost to avoid them.
In the case of The Baker's Secret, I read a dozen or more books, I listened to oral histories, I interviewed an Omaha Beach veteran, I went to France and with an expert guide I had the privilege of visiting the beaches, villages and cemeteries.
I also spoke with bakers, and consulted cookbooks. From the sources I used, my novel was correct -- including in the kitchen. Several people took umbrage at a sentence about starting popovers in a cold oven, which they said was wrong and impossible. All I know is that there are three recipes for popovers in this house, I've made each of them many times, and all three start in a cold oven.
Historical accuracy was a real challenge in the book I have coming out Aug 4 (Universe of Two), because it is a love story set amid the development of the atomic bomb. If I hewed to every scientific detail in describing the bomb's components, the book would be a hundred pages longer (and no longer a novel but a text book). I may be accused of oversimplifying the physics. All I can plead in my defense is that I am trying to tell a story, and that it is a work of fiction.
In the end, I respect readers' right to have any opinion they like about my work. I'm honored that they took the time to read it.
Here's what I can tell you: I perform hundreds of hours of research when I write a historical novel. Of course I'll make mistakes, as any human would, but I do my utmost to avoid them.
In the case of The Baker's Secret, I read a dozen or more books, I listened to oral histories, I interviewed an Omaha Beach veteran, I went to France and with an expert guide I had the privilege of visiting the beaches, villages and cemeteries.
I also spoke with bakers, and consulted cookbooks. From the sources I used, my novel was correct -- including in the kitchen. Several people took umbrage at a sentence about starting popovers in a cold oven, which they said was wrong and impossible. All I know is that there are three recipes for popovers in this house, I've made each of them many times, and all three start in a cold oven.
Historical accuracy was a real challenge in the book I have coming out Aug 4 (Universe of Two), because it is a love story set amid the development of the atomic bomb. If I hewed to every scientific detail in describing the bomb's components, the book would be a hundred pages longer (and no longer a novel but a text book). I may be accused of oversimplifying the physics. All I can plead in my defense is that I am trying to tell a story, and that it is a work of fiction.
In the end, I respect readers' right to have any opinion they like about my work. I'm honored that they took the time to read it.
Stephen P. Kiernan
Hi Alison and thanks for the great questions.
The Curiosity is not in the least about supernatural things. It is about the ethical questions that arise when science outpaces morals. It is about how our society today reacts to a unique person. And it is a love story -- so yes, the characters are at the center, as they are in all my books.
Thank you for reading my other novels.
My next book is still in the early stages, because it is requiring a huge amount of research. It concerns a bit player in the Manhattan Project, who went on to be a genius in a very different field.
The Curiosity is not in the least about supernatural things. It is about the ethical questions that arise when science outpaces morals. It is about how our society today reacts to a unique person. And it is a love story -- so yes, the characters are at the center, as they are in all my books.
Thank you for reading my other novels.
My next book is still in the early stages, because it is requiring a huge amount of research. It concerns a bit player in the Manhattan Project, who went on to be a genius in a very different field.
Stephen P. Kiernan
This is a question I'm often asked, and I have yet to find a definitive answer -- because there are lots of reasons.
First, I think the realms of hero and antihero have been explored in depth for men, and many manifestations of these roles are new for women -- or at least, new for fiction. Emma in The Baker's Secret, for example, came to me with a richness of narrative possibilities that a male in the same circumstances would not have offered. Her unique kind of heroism made writing the book more of a discovery.
Second, there is the challenge of craft (that is, getting away with writing a gender other than my own). It requires me to compose with great care, and to listen closely to early readers (nearly all women) so I learn what the wrong notes may be.
Third, any character (and any narrative voice) is the result of an act of imagination. In The Curiosity, one of the narrators is a man born in 1870 -- an experience completely foreign to me. It's all invention.
The writer's task, it seems to me, is to create an experience that the reader can believe in, a voice and character and soul that will come to life in the reader's imagination. That challenge is the same regardless of whether I am writing in a woman's voice, or in first person for a character very much like myself.
I am well along in a new novel right now, and once again my central character is female (though I embarked on the idea thinking otherwise). She is strident, and smart, and entirely misguided, and that latter characteristic is far more challenging to me than her gender. If you saw today's rough draft pages, you would say she is beating me handily.
Wish me luck.
And thank you for the question.
First, I think the realms of hero and antihero have been explored in depth for men, and many manifestations of these roles are new for women -- or at least, new for fiction. Emma in The Baker's Secret, for example, came to me with a richness of narrative possibilities that a male in the same circumstances would not have offered. Her unique kind of heroism made writing the book more of a discovery.
Second, there is the challenge of craft (that is, getting away with writing a gender other than my own). It requires me to compose with great care, and to listen closely to early readers (nearly all women) so I learn what the wrong notes may be.
Third, any character (and any narrative voice) is the result of an act of imagination. In The Curiosity, one of the narrators is a man born in 1870 -- an experience completely foreign to me. It's all invention.
The writer's task, it seems to me, is to create an experience that the reader can believe in, a voice and character and soul that will come to life in the reader's imagination. That challenge is the same regardless of whether I am writing in a woman's voice, or in first person for a character very much like myself.
I am well along in a new novel right now, and once again my central character is female (though I embarked on the idea thinking otherwise). She is strident, and smart, and entirely misguided, and that latter characteristic is far more challenging to me than her gender. If you saw today's rough draft pages, you would say she is beating me handily.
Wish me luck.
And thank you for the question.
Stephen P. Kiernan
Thank you for your kind words. My thanks, too, to the book lover who put me in your path.
I hope you enjoy The Hummingbird -- and if that leaves you hungry for more, you might try The Curiosity.
At the moment I'm roughly a third of the way along in a new novel, which is going slowly because it requires a ton of research. After the Pacific Theater of World War II (in The Hummingbird) and the European Theater (in The Baker's Secret), I found myself compelled to write a story about the home front during that time. This new book follows a mathematician who considers himself a pacifist (a rarity in 1943) yet he winds up working for the Manhattan Project. The story is told by his wife, who helps him after the war to find a fulfilling life that adds enormously to the world's peace.
"The Late Great Charlie Fisk" is based on a true story. My hope is to have it in bookstores in late 2019 or early 2020. Fingers Xd.
Thanks for your question, and especially for reading my books.
I hope you enjoy The Hummingbird -- and if that leaves you hungry for more, you might try The Curiosity.
At the moment I'm roughly a third of the way along in a new novel, which is going slowly because it requires a ton of research. After the Pacific Theater of World War II (in The Hummingbird) and the European Theater (in The Baker's Secret), I found myself compelled to write a story about the home front during that time. This new book follows a mathematician who considers himself a pacifist (a rarity in 1943) yet he winds up working for the Manhattan Project. The story is told by his wife, who helps him after the war to find a fulfilling life that adds enormously to the world's peace.
"The Late Great Charlie Fisk" is based on a true story. My hope is to have it in bookstores in late 2019 or early 2020. Fingers Xd.
Thanks for your question, and especially for reading my books.
Stephen P. Kiernan
Hi Connie and thanks for your question.
There are several romantic elements in The Baker's Secret, because the strains of occupation make the comforts of affection all the more important. There is I believe one sentence about a sexual moment, but everyone involved is fully clothed. It occurs the night before two lovers are to be parted, perhaps forever,
Some books require sexual specificity in order for the story to work. This novel relies much more on people's emotional connections to one another, and sexual specifics would distract from that story.
There are several romantic elements in The Baker's Secret, because the strains of occupation make the comforts of affection all the more important. There is I believe one sentence about a sexual moment, but everyone involved is fully clothed. It occurs the night before two lovers are to be parted, perhaps forever,
Some books require sexual specificity in order for the story to work. This novel relies much more on people's emotional connections to one another, and sexual specifics would distract from that story.
Stephen P. Kiernan
Never stop.
I have known plenty of people with huge talent and great potential, and they never had a word in print. Or a story or two, and then nothing.
The ones who made it, who built a life out of writing, were the ones who never quit. They may have had smaller innate gifts, but they worked hard enough that it did not matter.
Never stop.
I have known plenty of people with huge talent and great potential, and they never had a word in print. Or a story or two, and then nothing.
The ones who made it, who built a life out of writing, were the ones who never quit. They may have had smaller innate gifts, but they worked hard enough that it did not matter.
Never stop.
Stephen P. Kiernan
I don't think of it as a block, but only as a bad writing day -- just as there are good and bad days in any profession. So I work through it, I write anyway, and even if the material is junk I am relieved of the guilt of not working. The next day there is something to rewrite, and often I find a thing or two that is worth keeping. The writing life, to me, is not about constant inspiration and ease. It is about putting your butt in the chair for thousands of hours every year, and loving it.
Stephen P. Kiernan
When my paternal grandfather died, among his papers there were some news clippings about the death of Frank Kiernan, a cavalry officer who died in Montana and whose age would have put him two years older than grandpa. But he had never mentioned having a brother. I'd love to know the whole story. The only way I ever will, though, is if I make it up.
Stephen P. Kiernan
Fiction is full of memorable couples, so rather than pick a favorite, how about an eclectic list of ones I have loved?
Hank Stamper and Viv in Sometimes a Great Notion
Sissy Hankshaw and the Chink in Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Ma and Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath
Florentino and Fermina Dazo (I think that's the spelling) in Love in the Time of Cholera
Pelagia and Corelli in Corelli's Mandolin
... and I feel like I am just getting warmed up.
Hank Stamper and Viv in Sometimes a Great Notion
Sissy Hankshaw and the Chink in Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Ma and Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath
Florentino and Fermina Dazo (I think that's the spelling) in Love in the Time of Cholera
Pelagia and Corelli in Corelli's Mandolin
... and I feel like I am just getting warmed up.
Stephen P. Kiernan
Hi Mary Jean. I am sorry that you lost your sister, and I hope your sadness is not too heavy. She was lucky to have you to help her with the tough work of finishing her life, and I am glad to hear that hospice was at her side as well. You could not ask for better support.
There are so many opportunities for compassion and connection, if a person's pain and other symptoms are under expert professional control. I hope you and your sister had meaningful moments right to the end of her life.
Thank you for writing and my best to you and your family.
There are so many opportunities for compassion and connection, if a person's pain and other symptoms are under expert professional control. I hope you and your sister had meaningful moments right to the end of her life.
Thank you for writing and my best to you and your family.
Stephen P. Kiernan
One of the pleasures of writing a novel is what the story compels you to learn. In The Curiosity it was cell science, early baseball, and the history of aviation. In The Hummingbird, I learned about hospice, the Oregon coast, and yes Nabuo Fujita.
Now I'm working on The Taste of Hope, and so far I've learned about baking baguettes and the D-Day invasion.
Robert Frost once said, "No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader." I agree, including if you substitute "learning" for surprise.
Thanks for writing. Kathy.
Now I'm working on The Taste of Hope, and so far I've learned about baking baguettes and the D-Day invasion.
Robert Frost once said, "No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader." I agree, including if you substitute "learning" for surprise.
Thanks for writing. Kathy.
Stephen P. Kiernan
Hi Monica. My apologies for the slow reply. This part of Goodreads is new to me, but now that I see it I pledge to do better in the future.
The Curiosity had two big ideas behind it: One was a fascination with the moral and ethical questions raised by all of our society's new technology with cells: cloning, gene splicing, etc. One of my favorite novels that explores questions like these is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which clearly influenced the plot of my book.
The second idea came from the song by James Taylor, "Frozen Man," which humanized the old idea of a time traveler or man from another era alive in today's world. I loved that song and for years thought about enlarging it into a novel.
But really fiction is made of many many seeds, some of which come from research (like learning about early baseball or the city of Lynn, Mass.) and most of which arise out of the imagination (where else could a genius stoner like Gerber come from?).
Thanks for your question.
The Curiosity had two big ideas behind it: One was a fascination with the moral and ethical questions raised by all of our society's new technology with cells: cloning, gene splicing, etc. One of my favorite novels that explores questions like these is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which clearly influenced the plot of my book.
The second idea came from the song by James Taylor, "Frozen Man," which humanized the old idea of a time traveler or man from another era alive in today's world. I loved that song and for years thought about enlarging it into a novel.
But really fiction is made of many many seeds, some of which come from research (like learning about early baseball or the city of Lynn, Mass.) and most of which arise out of the imagination (where else could a genius stoner like Gerber come from?).
Thanks for your question.
Stephen P. Kiernan
Hi Anthony and thanks for your question. I'm delighted that you enjoyed the historical part of the book.
The Hummingbird initially began as a novel about the World War II component. The contemporary story came second, believe it or not. But when I put them together I felt like each piece said something that enriched the other. That's my hope anyway.
I am a journalist so I loved the research, but I am not a historian so I was glad to be able to take the liberties of fiction to make the best story I could.
I am now about a quarter of the way along in another novel, The Taste of Hope, which will come out from the same wonderful publisher sometime in 2017 (if all goes well and the creek don't rise), which is set entirely in World War II France. More to come on that in the months ahead.
Thanks again.
The Hummingbird initially began as a novel about the World War II component. The contemporary story came second, believe it or not. But when I put them together I felt like each piece said something that enriched the other. That's my hope anyway.
I am a journalist so I loved the research, but I am not a historian so I was glad to be able to take the liberties of fiction to make the best story I could.
I am now about a quarter of the way along in another novel, The Taste of Hope, which will come out from the same wonderful publisher sometime in 2017 (if all goes well and the creek don't rise), which is set entirely in World War II France. More to come on that in the months ahead.
Thanks again.
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