Ask the Author: Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Answered Questions (13)
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
This one from a recurring nightmare:
I forgot to drop that class in college. My professor contacts me to say I'm expected at the exam at the end of the semester.
I forgot to drop that class in college. My professor contacts me to say I'm expected at the exam at the end of the semester.
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
I'm going to go all the way back to childhood for this one. Narnia (preferably after the White Witch was defeated and it wasn't winter all the time)! I'd love to have some adventures with the Pevensie children and get to spend some time with Aslan.
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
She was more into how he paid attention to her and pursued her when she felt overlooked and forgotten. She got swept up and lost sight of herself, and in the process what was right. That's why at the end it says that she's taking time to get to know someone: herself. Thanks for your question-- and for reading!
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
On my list are Elin Hildebrand's newest, THE IDENTICALS, Joshilyn Jackson's THE ALMOST SISTERS, Liz and Lisa's THE GOOD WIDOW, Joy Callaway's SECRET SISTERS, Emily Carpenter's THE WEIGHT OF LIES, and probably a lot more-- that's just for starters!
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew from ONE DAY by David Nicholls-- Even though I read the book years ago, I still think of them at least weekly. I loved the movie as well!
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Hmmm, lemme see-- that's a tough one! I'm just going to answer off the top of my head so I don't overthink. They might not have come out in the last decade but I've read them in the last decade so I would say THE PACT by Jodi Picoult, THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE by Audrey Niffenegger , BEFORE THE FALL by Noah Hawley, A MAN CALLED OVE (not because it was a page turner per se but because I was emotionally riveted-- I listened to it and was always sad when I had to stop), and my favorite of this past year was Phil Collins' NOT DEAD YET. Again I listened to it and it was just so good to hear him tell his story. Course I'm a huge fan so that' might've had something to do with it-- I was predisposed to love it. I'm sure there's some I'm missing but that's a good start!
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Thank you Lauren! I don't think you could've paid me a better compliment. I don't plan to revisit these characters in another book unfortunately, though I am certain I will revisit some of the themes you saw in The Things We Wish Were True. Stay tuned!!
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Some aren't going to like this answer but I plot out my stories before I write. Now they aren't detailed outlines (shudder!) but they are a few brief lines about what's going to happen next-- and next-- and next. I put them on index cards and then I put them in some sort of order so that when I sit down to write I don't have to come up with what's going to happen overall-- just what is going to happen on that scene on that index card. It helps me not feel overwhelmed. Scene by scene, card by card (with lots of changes in between) I manage to write a whole book. I like having the plot thought through beforehand, as it feels like a road map for the journey I am taking. I am not a fan of wandering. Must be my firstborn, type A personality!
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
As a mom of six with a husband who travels, I couldn't hold down a job with set hours! So the flexibility that writing offers me is huge for me and my family. And of course there are the intangibles that come with sharing the stories and people who exist inside my head with a larger audience, the camaraderie that's found with other writers (my people!), and being part of the landscape of literature that I once used to only survey from a distance. That's a heady thing.
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Write the book you can't stop thinking about. Write the book you want to read. Write as much as you can and keep learning your craft. Attend conferences, read books, find other writers in your town or on the internet and gain support from them. And don't lose sight of why you started writing in the first place-- the love of story. If you feel you've lost that, do whatever you can to get back to it. Otherwise your work will reflect it.
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
My work in progress is a novel about a 33 yo woman who gets summoned to the small North Carolina town her recently-widowed mother has up and moved to for reasons the woman doesn't understand and, frankly, resents. When she arrives in the town after her mother becomes ill, she meets a group of women her mother is friends with, and becomes unwittingly involved in a rather (to her) morbid club they have together. When a mystery emerges in the town, it becomes apparent that this group of women has some secrets they're not anxious to let anyone else in on. Just how far back their bonds go, and how deep these secrets run, is something the main character is compelled to uncover.
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
I have a Pandora station that I've written every book to. (The same station for every book.) The songs are inspiring/soothing/evocative to me and just the act of pulling up Pandora and pressing play tells my mind "it's time to write." It's like Pavlov's dog for writers. I pay for the "no ads" Pandora because nothing stops the flow of my concentration like some announcer plying their wares!
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
My most recent book is called THE THINGS WE WISH WERE TRUE and it will be out 7/26/16! This book was inspired by a near-drowning that happened at my own neighborhood pool. As I witnessed the way this event united our neighborhood I started mulling over how I could unite disparate characters over a similar incident, and use this initial bond to build from, weaving these characters' lives together. From there-- and by pulling in some other random elements I'd been thinking about-- the novel came to be.
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