Buongiorno, Gossip Lovers.
Your Bookie is back with a wonderful treat for
you: An interview with Bookie's very close personal
friend and author extraordinaire, and American
treasure, Patricia Gaffney. Oh, you are in for a
treat dear ones. Pat's latest book, THE SAVING
GRACES, has just hit the shelves. Bookie loved it
and knows you will too. Enjoy.
Dear Bookie, Patricia Gaffney is only too happy
to answer your questions.
Even though she finds many of them impertinent.
To say the least. But being the good sport she is,
here she goes:
Q: Pat, darling, how nice of you to stop by
for tea and questions. As you can see, Bookie has
the complete Gaffney Collection. Do you have a
personal favorite, or is it always the one your
working on?
A: Bookie has such good taste.
It's NEVER the one I'm working on. The one I'm
working on is always my least favorite, because the
one I'm working on always bites. Until I finish it
and somebody reads it and says they like it--then,
THEN it's my favorite.
I have several personal faves, Pat's-books-wise.
(Since you ask.) I like the Wyckerley trilogy,
especially the first one, TO LOVE AND TO CHERISH. I
like WILD AT HEART. CROOKED HEARTS still makes me
laugh, plus I think it's HOT. And I like SWEET
EVERLASTING because it's set in my backyard. Oh,
and I also like ANOTHER EDEN--so poignant. And LILY
because it's nuts, it's completely nuts.
Actually I like 'em all, and I applaud Bookie
for owning the entire oeuvre. (Purchased new, I
trust.) Again, what perspicacity, what exquisite
insight, what acuity. What a gal.
Q: The heroes in your books always get Bookie
horn… uh, they touch Bookie’s heart ... yes,
definitely the heart. Do you base them on your
wonderful husband, Jon? Ummm, is he here today by
any chance?
A: Heh heh. Pat knows Bookie is only joking.
Yes, indeedy, Jon is the hero of all my books,
every single one of them. That's my story and I'm
sticking to it. Especially since he's looking over
my shoulder at this VERY MOMENT.
Q: You hold a masters degree in education,
taught high school English, and spent years and
years in Washington, D.C. as a court reporter. Yet
you chose to write historical novels. Why that
particular genre?
A: I liked historicals because they were the
farthest away from everyday reality. I mean, if
you're going for fantasy, you can REALLY go for it
in a historical romance, which bears hardly any
resemblance at all to the life you're schlepping
through day after day. Writing books set in, say,
1850 gave me more freedom; I could let my
imagination soar, no constraints, no political
correctness. No condoms.
So in a way, when I was just starting out, it
felt SAFER to write books set in the distant past.
Only a historian could catch me in a mistake, that
was one thing, <g> but also, it felt cozier,
warmer somehow, definitely safer. Not sure how to
explain this. I guess it was less self-revelatory.
I could hide behind history and still tell my
story.
Q: Before we discuss your newest, THE SAVING
GRACES, can we talk a bit about WILD AT HEART
(1997) which was nominated for Favorite Book of the
Year by readers? This book nearly made Bookie cry.
Of course that isn't possible. Mustn't let the
mascara run, dear. But the tale was pure magic.
Where did this beautiful story idea spring
from?
A: Why, I stole it, of course. HA HA! Just
kidding!
Okay, what happened was, I read this book by
Alice Hoffman called SECOND NATURE, which is
contemporary, of course, and not a romance,
obviously. It's about a woman who rescues a
psychiatric patient about to be institutionalized
for life because he doesn't talk, he's "wild,"
unsocialized, etc. Some months ago he was caught in
a trap in the wilds of Minnesota or someplace, I
forget, a wild man. The opening scene is very
romantic when she impulsively springs him, based on
nothing but hot looks between them. Well! Cool
deal, I thought, until Alice (I call her Alice)
really let me down. The ending is HORRIBLE--from a
romance lover's standpoint. So I decided to fix it.
I set my story in 1890s Chicago, made the
heroine the daughter of an anthropologist who's
studying a "wild man" they've just found in the
Canadian wilderness. She's a widow, trying to break
free of the rigid conventions of the day--and what
better way to break out than to fall in love with a
wild man? Tarzan in Chicago, I call this book. And
unlike Alice's wild man, mine doesn't go around
killing people; he's just a big teddy bear.
Really, all I stole was the premise. Just the
wild man part. The rest I made up all by myself.
Really. Honest.
Q: Your new book, THE SAVING GRACES, was a
change in genres from what you normally write. Will
you be moving into the woman’s fiction genre now?
Will you still write historical romance?
A: Unlike some people I could name, I don't have
an endless, bottomless well of stories to tell. For
me it's like ovaries: you only get so many, and
when they're gone they're gone. Or brain
cells--remember when they used to say alcohol
destroys brain cells? Thank God THAT theory's been
debunked! But I digress. One reason I decided to
try a more mainstream kind of novel is because I
was afraid I'd run out of stories that fit
perfectly into the context of romance. And I didn't
want to repeat myself.
I'm not out of stories--just stories that fit
the romance framework. But I'll ALWAYS tell love
stories. It's just that the love won't always be
between a man and a woman. <g>
Q: Inquiring minds yearn to know how much of
Graces is drawn from "real life" and how much is
your marvelous imagination. The shower scene with
Lee left Bookie in stitches. Did you ever really do
something like that with close personal friends?
Like maybe with a petite talented writer with a
penchant for Italian shoes?
A: Ha! You're putting ideas in my head. Say,
that WOULD be fun--videotaping Nora nude in the
shower. Frankly this had never occurred to me, but
now that you've put the thought in my mind....
No, sorry, the shower scene never happened, I
made it up. And there's no such person as Curtis,
you'll be relieved to know. As for the Graces, they
are at once like and not like four women I know
very well indeed (one of them being me), who've
belonged to the same women's group for almost 20
years. We're like the Saving Graces in lots of
ways--we love each other, we fight, make up, grate
on each other's nerves, tell secrets, keep secrets,
would be lost without each other. I wanted to write
a book about what friendship feels like among women
with real lives, the usual ups and downs and petty
triumphs and everyday tragedies we all know so
well. I believe if you've got grace, humor, a
little luck, and a couple of true-blue girlfriends,
you can get through anything.
Q: Emma's Mick seems like the ultimate hunk.
Someone Bookie could teach a thing or two. Is he
based on anyone you know personally? Your husband
Jon perhaps? Where is Jon by the way? Oh, dear, did
I ask that already?
A: Heh heh heh. Jon's not home. Anyway, he only
likes younger women. Bookie note. Bookie was not
amused at Ms. Gaffney's small attempt at humor. All
know that Bookie is eternally young and
beautiful.
Q: Reviews of THE SAVING GRACES have been
simply glowing - except for Boss Lady Sue's review
which is, of course, more of a super nova. Can that
woman gush or what! You must be so pleased.
A: It's true, nobody gushes like Sue. God love
her. Aren't those reviews over at Amazon something?
And some of them are from people who are not even
close personal friends! Why, some of them are
people I never even heard of!
Q: Like Bookie, you enjoy watching men play.
Do you have a favorite sport? Naturally, my own
personal favorite is the one which gets them the
sweatiest. And what's this rumor about you and men
with dreadlocks? Does Jon know?
A: I see Sue has outed me. It's true, I am
mysteriously, inexplicably drawn to a certain New
York Knick better known for trying to strangle his
former coach than for his pull-up jump shot. I
can't explain how this happened. Something about
those dreadlocks. And yes, Jon knows. He just
shakes his head.
My favorite sport is football. Then basketball,
then baseball, then soccer, then hockey. If anyone
is still reading this list of Pat's favorite
sports, I will now reveal something even more
shocking and shameful than my Latrell Sprewell
crush. I like Friday Night Boxing on ESPN-2. There,
I've said it and I'm not sorry.
Mostly I like it because I have ANOTHER crush,
this time on one of the announcers, Max...I forget
his last name. Max has a stand-up crewcut, he's
about 25, he's skinny and nerdy-looking, and he is
a boxing GURU, there is NOTHING he doesn't know
about the sport, and he is so incredibly INTENSE
about it--well, it just makes me crazy. With
grandmotherly lust.
There, I feel so much better. Confession really
IS good for the soul.
Q: Bookie is privy to gossip at its best.
What's this I hear about you arm wrestling? Is this
how you met Jon? Where is Jon by the way?
A: JON IS NOT HERE. JON IS OUT. JON IS IN
AUSTRALIA.
Arm wrestling. Why do you ask? You wanna
challenge me? Think you can take me? Huh? Put your
money where your mouth is, girlie girl, I'll twist
ya right under the table. Don't believe it? Ask
Nora. She knows from BITTER personal experience
that nobody messes with Iron Pat.
Q: What is next on the horizon for Pat
Gaffney? Bookie has heard rumblings about a new
book coming in mid-2000. Can we mark our calendars?
Can you give us an advance peek?
A: An advance peek? Hahahahaha. (Hysterical
laughter) My editor is starting to ask the same
thing! This unfinished masterpiece is currently
called FLOATING THE ARK, and it's about a woman,
her elderly mother, and her teenage daughter. And
her lover. It's a mother-daughter story. Sort of.
HarperCollins wants to bring it out next Mother's
Day. If it's finished by then. HAHAHAHAHAHA. (More
hysterical laughter)
Q: Where can your adoring public reach you
... a website? author board? home phone number? Is
Jon ever home alone?
A: JON IS STILL IN AUSTRALIA. AFTER THAT HE
LEAVES FOR NEPAL.
My adoring public is always welcome to write to
me at
pgaffney@cvn.net.
I also have a website
www.sff.net/people/PGaffney.
Oh, and anyone who's feeling nostalgic for the
OLD
PGaffney website (i.e., before I became a
Serious Person), that postmodern classic created by
my two inimitable fans Passion Ann Heet and
Cinnamon Luust--you can still find it by going to
the NEW website, scrolling down to the bottom of
the first page, hitting "Text Index," and then
"Patricia Gaffney's Early Novels Site."
You won't be sorry.
Q: Thank you, Pat. Bookie is ever so grateful
for all your help.
A: My pleasure. Oh--forgot. Jon wants your
number.
Bookie would LOVE to hear from you!
Her motto is, "Gossip is reality!"
E-mail her here @
bookie@adwoff.com
Bookie now has her own e-mail address!
:-) Keep her busy!
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