from Mary...
March 10, 2010
Hi everybody.
I think I've let you know in the past that there is no relief quite like the relief of writing those precious words 'The End' at the close of a book. That glorious moment arrived about a month ago for The Shadow of Your Smile and then the final of the final of the page proofs were put to bed. Now I'm doing all the mundane things I've pushed aside since October — things like answering mail and sorting through my closets.
The Oscars were on the other night and as a sign of how book-engrossed I've been, I've seen only one of the nominated films. Another thing to catch up on. We had sixteen in for dinner and to watch the program. One of the smartest things I've ever done was to expand the kitchen-family room when our house in Saddle River was renovated a couple of years ago. In the seventeenth century on Cape Cold the kitchen was known as the 'keeping room' and that was where the family spent all its waking hours. The parlor was reserved for a visit from the local minister and since it wasn't heated, I doubt the poor man was thrilled at the privilege.
We were in Pam Beach a few weeks ago and drove on Alligator Alley to attend the tenth annual Florida Festival of Reading . Governor Jeb Bush is the head of it and I've spoken at one of the annual events. This was a ten year celebration and President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush were there. Over the years I've attended quite a few literary events when they were present and it truly is a joy to see them again. They are quite simply the nicest, warmest people anyone would ever want to encounter.
I'm finally getting to read some of the books that have been piling up on the coffee table. Now halfway through The Help which I love. Next one will be The Queen Mother, by William Shawcross. It's the official biography of Queen Elizabeth, the mother of the queen. As a child I remember seeing films of her and King George walking through the rubble in London after bombings. I was in London at the time they were celebrating her one hundredth birthday.
I'm always asked how I get my ideas for my books. The Shadow of Your Smile began when I attended the beatification ceremony for Mother Mary Angeline, Teresa McCrory a Carmelite nun who dedicated her life to the care of the aged and infirm. She died in 1984. Now she is credited with a miracle because a crusade of prayer was made to her when a woman was told that sonograms showed that her baby was hopelessly deformed. When the baby was born it was completely normal.
After the ceremony I realized that my mind was working overtime. I wanted to use a deceased nun who is credited with saving the life of a child within the framework of a suspense novel. I hope I've succeeded. It was a rewarding experience to tell that tale.
After this long, cold, and snowy winter, the last week has been bright with sunshine in our area. I love a snowstorm and for one full day it's kind of satisfying to be inside with the fire going and watching the snow swirling around and settling on the trees and grass. Of course by the second day housebound, like most people I'm ready to get moving again.
Inevitably I think of that poem The First Snow Fall, by James Russell Lowell. If memory is correct it begins:
The snow had begun in the gloaming and so busily through the night.. .Had been heaping the fields and highways with a silence deep and white
I forget the rest until the end. The poet had written it because of his thirteen month old daughter who had died. The final two lines are:
'I kissed her and she kissing back could not know, That my kiss was given to her sister folded close under deepening snow.'
That's about it for now except to say thank you for your e-mails. I do enjoy them so much. When I'm writing a new book and wondering if it's any good, those e-mails telling me that you care about the other novels is a real incentive. It's fun too when you let me know that you saw people reading them in other languages when you were traveling. I regularly get asked how I got started, and how I developed certain plots. My memoir, 'KITCHEN PRIVILIGES', can be ordered at Amazon and answers a lot of those questions.
cheers and blessings, one and all mary H.C.