‘The Divorced Lady’s Companion to Living in Italy’ tells the transition-by-espresso of Marilyn Wade, involving waif models, kinky internet dates and insolent teens, before the gaudy backdrop of contemporary Italy.
Brit Writers spoke to author Catherine McNamara…
Who is Catherine McNamara?
I grew up in Sydney, Australia, with two burning desires – to write and to travel. I worked as an au pair in Paris for a theatrical family. Later I moved to Milan, taught English, then worked in an embassy in Mogadishu before the war, which was when I my first short story was published. Many years later I found myself in Accra, Ghana, running an art gallery. I moved to Italy in 2002 and have a love-hate relationship with the country.
What inspired you to write The Divorced Lady’s Companion to Living in Italy?
I’ve published many short stories in journals and anthologies in England, Australia and the US. I’ve always wanted to publish a novel but family and work have often dissolved my concentration and hampered the task of editing. I’d written a chunky novel set in Ghana which received mixed feedback, and in the lull that followed a friend suggested I write something funny set in Italy. I left her house for the long drive home and by the time I arrived I had a title and a first sentence. I wrote the novel for the next six months in our old chicken shed.
I think ‘The Divorced Lady’s Companion to Living in Italy’ was the culmination of years of heavy writing and living as a foreigner in various places; it also addresses my discontent with the way many women choose to grow older – especially in the age of botox and cougar huntresses.
Tell us about your journey to publication?
After completing the manuscript I let it lie for many months and went back to short story writing. I had never written comedy before and so felt very uncertain. My initial view that perhaps it would be easier to enter the commercial rather than the literary world was immediately overturned when the first submissions I made to agents came bouncing back. I drew up a list and crossed off quite a few, while I did yet another revision. I then began looking at smaller publishing houses and stumbled upon an interview with Ronnie Goodyer, publisher of Indigo Dreams. I liked his tone – I could tell Ronnie was a wordsmith and very passionate about his work. The IDP submission process also gave me a little more hope than the prospect of landing in the slush pile, so I was unspeakably thrilled when Ronnie asked for a full manuscript and quickly accepted the novel.
Following a long stretch of revisions with my editor the novel came out in April and is now available on Kindle, and will soon be published in Australia and the US. What I have learned is that editing is a rare and valuable skill to be honed, and that promotion is part of the process – and I like it!
How important was it for you to become involved with Brit Writers publishing partners Indigo Dreams Publishing? How did they help you?
Ronnie and Dawn immediately made me aware of the journey we would be making together with my book. When you are an unpublished writer, it’s very hard to see beyond the concept of having a manuscript accepted and signing a contract. It’s impossible to realise just how much work there is still to do. Through IDP I have learned bucket-loads about editing – I thought I was a mean editor before, but I didn’t have a clue. IDP has also given support and encouragement with my promotion efforts, and Ronnie and Dawn have shown belief in my work from Day 1. They believe in loyalty between publisher and author and next year I have another book coming out with IDP which is a risky genre for most publishers to contemplate – a collection of short stories. Ronnie and Dawn have shown so much warmth and enthusiasm I sometimes feel like a family member off in Italy!
How important do you think initiatives such as Brit Writers are?
I think the information provided by Brit Writers is not only inspiring but downright practical. There is so much information online for unpublished writers that it sometimes seems impossible to join the dots. At times an author interview, or news of a publisher or the story of an award winner, can really help writer morale.
What advice would you give to new and unpublished writers who are reading this?
What I have learned might sound odd. We are often told that writers need time to find their ‘voice’, and then everything seems to click. But I think that ‘voice’ can change according to age, circumstance and genre. I think writers should keep trying everything – even mimicking a style is useful to understand another author’s reality, and to reach into the nooks and crannies of language. Listen to people talking, read junk, read classics. I think that even writing reviews on Goodreads is useful – to understand the devices that experienced writers use, to get a feel for character and the gist of different styles. Writing is a craft. Everyone can just about do it, but to do it really well takes practice, failure, adjustment – years of it.
As for editing and submissions, be prepared to be diligent, even manic. Everything that I have sent out too soon has made me cringe afterwards. Let work breathe, then look at it in a new light. Prepare a rejection strategy – mine is to go into secretary mode and send out a new submission straightaway.
Also, because big agents and publishers are under more pressure than ever to churn out works that will be a commercial success, try a smaller, friendlier publisher who might be more open-minded about original or risky work. That doesn’t mean that your work should be any less slick – but it might mean you find someone who is on your wavelength, rather than a corporate reader afraid of losing his or her job!
What’s next for Catherine McNamara?
As I mentioned I have a short story collection, ‘Pelt and Other Stories’, coming out with IDP next year. ‘Pelt’ is mostly set in Africa, in the cross-over zone between cultures. We are currently revising the text and moving towards cover design. I am very, very excited. Few publishers are keen to deal with short stories because they appear to be poor earners, and I’ve been told countless times by agents and big publishers: ‘Write me a novel with a hook.’ And yet, each short story has its own hook and it seems to me that the form is enjoying a revival at the moment – we hope so!
I am also still very much involved in promotion of ‘The Divorced Lady’s Companion to Living in Italy’ which will be going to the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. I have an appearance at the Women’s Fiction Festival in Matera, Italy, in September and have started speaking to book club groups worldwide on Skype. My blogs keep me busy and I’ve even met up with a few of my readers in nearby Venice for a chat and a glass of prosecco!
http://thedivorcedladyscompaniontoitaly.blogspot.com
http://peltandotherstories.blogspot.com
Thank you Brit Writers for having me! And watch this space for news on ‘Pelt and Other Stories’ next year!
Indigo Dreams Publishing:
www.indigodreams.co.uk
publishing@indigodreams.co.uk
Thank you Catherine
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