Pump Up Chats with Paula McLain

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Paula McLain Paula McLain received an MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan and has been a resident of Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony. She is the author of two collections of poetry, as well as a memoir, Like Family, and a first novel, A Ticket to Ride. She lives in Cleveland with her family. You can visit Paula McLain’s website to learn more about The Paris Wife at www.pariswife.com.

On The Paris Wife

Can you tell us why you wrote your book?

Hadley Richardson was Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, and yet for many of us, she’s largely unknown. From the moment I found her, in the pages of Hemingway’s remarkable memoir, A Moveable Feast, I wanted to know more about her—who she was, how they met and fell in love, what it was like for her to be married to such a demanding and stormy force of nature. These questions led me to search out biographies of her life—and that’s when I really fell in love. Her voice and the arc of her life were immediately fascinating to me. She’s also the ideal person to show us a side of Hemingway we’ve never seen before—sensitive, vulnerable, and very human.

Which part of the book was the hardest to write?

In the final third of the book, the Hemingway’s marriage is profoundly tested when another woman sets her sights on Ernest. Writing this section, I felt completely absorbed by the story, the drama, and so it was emotionally draining for me to live inside it day after day. And yet it was also ultimately rewarding to surrender completely to the book and my characters. I was entirely swept away—and that’s an incredible feeling. Wedding Day, 1921

Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about? No, I don’t think so….

On Writing

Do you remember when the writing bug hit?

I wrote a lot of poetry when I was a teenager—mostly desperate love poetry! When I was nineteen, I submitted a poem to Cosmopolitan Magazine (not sure how I gathered the guts to do it), and it was accepted. They sent me a check for twenty-five dollars, and I felt so pleased and proud to have it, I almost couldn’t cash it. The poem, as I remember it, was quite terrible—but feeling like a real author, that was pretty amazing.

What’s the most frustrating thing about becoming a published author and what’s the most rewarding?

It can be frustrating to work your heart out writing a book, and love it, and want it to have a great life, and then have it land in the world without even the slightest noise. Don’t get me wrong, I’m endlessly grateful to have the career I’ve had, but I’ve gotten many, many royalty statements with numbers in the negative column, and that’s tough. The most rewarding thing? Just that I get to do what I love every day.

Do you have a writing tip you’d like to share?

Talent is crucial if you want to be a writer, but even more crucial is perseverance—sticking with it even if the whole world says no, because you have to. Because it’s part of who you are—like your spleen.

On Family and Home

Would you like to tell us about your home life? Where you live? Family? Pets?

I live in a charming residential neighborhood in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, very near a playground. When I work, I can nearly always hear children screaming—with glee or frustration or both! I have three children who, very thankfully, are school age. When I wrote my first novel, I was hugely pregnant with a two-year-old, and had only about an hour a day to write. That was incredibly difficult—sometimes I wonder how I did it!

Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

I work at a desk in my living room, surrounded by windows. Was it Joyce Carol Oates who said she liked to face a wall so her imagination was triggered more fully? I need windows!

What do you do to get away from it all?

I love cooking shows and reading cookbooks. Pretty food has always appealed to me in a Zen sort of way. I also secretly love celebrity magazines. Sometimes I deliberately choose the longest line at the grocery store so I can catch up,

On Childhood

Were you the kind of child who always had a book in her/his hand?

Definitely. I grew up in foster care, and all the dislocation and uncertainty made me shy and untrusting of others. Books were my refuge. I relied on them for escape and also hope. I didn’t see happy ending on my own horizon, and so needed stories to show me what was possible out there, in some other world.

Can you remember your favorite book?

Watership Down. Who knew talking rabbits could be so compelling!

Do you remember writing stories when you were a child?

I wrote a few stories in high school, but then was too terrified to show them to anyone. I didn’t take a creative writing class until I was twenty-four, but then I was completely hooked from that moment on.

On Book Promotion

What was the first thing you did as far as promoting your book?

I have a World-class publicist at Random House, and for that I am beyond grateful. She scheduled me for several bookseller conferences many months before my publication date, and this really helped get the word out, and got the book on the radar.

Are you familiar with the social networks and do you actively participate?

I do Facebook, but I’m not very good at staying current. I have writer friends who seem to dash off these completely charming and funny status updates every ten minutes. That sort of thing doesn’t come easy for me.

How do you think book promotion has changed over the years?

More and more I see writers taking charge of their own promotion, killing themselves to get the word out, organizing their own tour—and I admire this gumption. Sometimes it pays off in spades—but regardless, I think it makes writers feel like they’re not just waiting helplessly for the world to take notice.

On Other Fun Stuff

If you had one wish, what would that be?

That there would somehow magically be more time in the day—so I could do the work I love, and still have endless time and energy and enthusiasm for my children. I wish I didn’t always feel squeezed and compromised—but I think many women feel that way.

If you could be anywhere in the world other than where you are right now, where would that place be?

On a farm in Vermont with big dogs and a garden and a dilapidated barn. I’d wear overalls and actually look good in them, and learn the names of birds.

Your book has just been awarded a Pulitzer. Who would you thank?

My children, my agent, my editor, the universe. Then I’d get down on my knees and kiss the ground for such incredible good fortune. That would be great day.

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Maria Andrade, DEFIANCE AND REDEMPTION

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Wendy Leighton-Porter, THE SHADOW OF ATLANTIS

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M.B. Lewis, THE PILATE SCROLL

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Kathleen Shaputis, HIS KILT DROPPED HERE

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Joni Ankerson, TO KILL OR BE KILLED

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Aiken Brown, SON OF A SOLDIER

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Laura Preble, ANNA INCOGNITO

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Lena Gregory, GRAVE CONSEQUENCES

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Jennifer Chase, FLOWERS ON HER GRAVE

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Elysia Strife, A PROMISE IN ASH

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Miri Leshem-Pelly, SCRIBBLE & AUTHOR

"I think you did an excellent job last time, thank you!"
Shami Stovall, KNIGHTMARE ARCANIST

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Suzanne M. Hurley, THE TEDDY BEAR EYE CLUB

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Sharon House, BRIMSTONE AND WATER

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Michael Allan Scott, GREY DAZE

"Just wanted to thank you for putting together a great tour for You Won't Remember This. I think the author was pleasantly surprised and overall very pleased."
Bacon Press Books

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T.M. Wallace, WINTERGARDEN

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I’m in the middle of my third book and will definitely call on you again when it’s time to market it."
Deborah Serani, DEPRESSION AND YOUR CHILD

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Ashley Fontainne, GROWL

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Mary Lawlor, FIGHTER PILOT'S DAUGHTER

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Lee Papa, TEMPLE OF ALL KNOWING

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Madeline Wynn, DAUGHTER OF THE FALLEN

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Mary Lawlor, FIGHTER PILOT'S DAUGHTER

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Karen-Anne Stewart, ASH TO STEELE

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Lauren Carr, Best-Selling Mystery Author of Mac Faraday, and Lovers in Crime, Mysteries

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Monique Roy, ACROSS GREAT DIVIDES

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Kaylin McFarren, BURIED THREADS

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--Deborah Serani, DEPRESSION AND YOUR CHILD

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--Carol Nicolas, THE SIXTH POWER

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--Jo Sparkes, THE BIRR ELIXIR

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--Mary Ann Loesch, NEPHILIM

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Question of the Day

How do you make sales happen for you?

A lot of hard work! I sponsor a lot of on line parties, festivals and contests. Book sales don’t magically happen, believe me. An author has to work hard to earn her readers. And then she has to work hard to keep them by giving them something they’ll enjoy reading. I try hard to make my books worth a reader’s time.

-- Sheila Roberts, Author of Winter at the Beach