Interview Mary Kate Brogan

by

Linda Rettstatt

Hi, Mary Kate,

1. When did you start writing?

 Hi, Linda. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love to read and write. I still recall the smell of the glossy pages and the colourful pictures in the Mother Goose book my grandmother used to read to me when I was five. I think it was then that my love of reading was born. As a child, I used to write poetry for my own enjoyment. Through the years, I’ve written prose pieces and short stories. About ten years ago, I began writing novels.

2. Where do get your inspiration?

 From life experience, imagination and reading. I once read a short story about a man who kept his paternity secret from his son, presumably for the good of the boy. The idea of such a separation touched me deeply, making me conscious of the suffering that could be imposed on a man deprived of the right to know his child. In A Daddy For Danny, I explore the theme of pain caused by miscommunication, and the power of love to achieve resolution.

3. Tell us a little about your book, A Daddy For Danny.

 Jenny Eglington is bound by her dying sister’s words: If Roland doesn’t want me, he doesn’t deserve my son. Don’t ever let him know about my baby. For a year after Danny’s birth, Jenny tried to find Roland, but not even his father knew where he lived or worked. Then, she felt her growing love for Danny and made him hers. Now, six years later, the man who presumably abandoned her sister is back and Jenny must deal with guilt and a devastating attraction to a man with the power to ruin her life.

4. If there is one thing you hope your readers take away from your book, what would it be?

 Well, I started out simply intending to tell an interesting tale, but I suppose if I’d like people to take away something it would be a belief in the power of meaningful communication to keep love alive.

5. Is A Daddy For Danny your first publication? Are there more to come?

 I have published non-fiction pieces, but A Daddy For Danny is my first novel. I am working on another romance novel and have completed a mainstream novel set in 1950’s Ireland, the country of my birth. I’m as excited about these two works in progress as I am about A Daddy For Danny.

6. How do you write? Do you have sacred writing space where you write? Do you outline or start with a synopsis, or do you let your characters tell you the story as you write?

My computer sits on a desk in the corner of a bedroom where I can enjoy privacy. I start with a rough outline that changes somewhat, as I go along. I know how the story is going to start and how it will end, but I find that no matter how hard I try I just can’t keep a tight rein on my characters. They constantly surprise me by doing their own thing.

7. What do you think is the most valuable tool for any writer? Why?

 First and foremost, I would have to say a love of reading and knowledge of literature. One cannot possibly learn to write without first having read widely.

8. What do you find to be the most challenging thing about being a writer? What is the most rewarding?

It’s a challenge to keep the story line compelling, and it’s rewarding when it has all come together and I can believe it will touch people’s hearts.

9. When you’re not writing, what are your hobbies and interests?

 Of course, I spend time reading. But I love to paint as much as I love to write, and am a member of an art group. Although exhibiting my paintings has always satisfied one aspect of my creative need, through the years writing has called to me as another form of artistic communication. The challenge is to find time to do both.

10. Do you have a web site?

 I plan to have a web site in May 2008, when A Daddy For Danny reaches publication.

Thank you very much, Linda, for interviewing me.