Guest interview with Mary T Bradford

Today I have the great pleasure of hosting Mary T Bradford, who’s just published her first novel, My Husband’s Sin with Tirgearr Publishing.
She’s agreed to answer a few questions for me. But first, here’s the blurb to get us started:
In the weeks following Lillian Taylor’s burial, her four loving children assemble for the reading of her will. For the grieving youngest sibling, Lacey, life is about to come crashing down as a deep secret is revealed. The fall-out affects every member and they struggle to regain the happy family unit they once shared. Each of the four, now adult, children take the reader on a journey as they try to come to terms with and learn to handle this huge revelation.

 

So, Mary, first off, can you give us a little more info on what My Husband’s Sin is about?
My debut novel is centred about the Taylor family. Lacey, the youngest of the family is dealt a horrible blow at the reading of her mother’s will. She is devastated and the knock on affect on her three siblings shakes the family unit. Lacey has questions that need answering and at one stage she must leave Ireland to search for some of the answers. Will the Taylor’s come together and unite or do they fall apart and remain so?
What are the main themes in the book?
In My Husband’s Sin, there are a few themes but the main one is loss. Losing a parent or indeed any family member is a difficult time for everyone concerned. Lacey Taylor, suffers loss greater than the others when after her mother Lillian’s funeral, a letter she is given destroys her life further. She now suffers betrayal as well. But it only takes a small crack to appear in a family for it all to come crumbling down
If you were casting the movie version of My Husband’s Sin, who would you choose for the leading roles?
I would love the young actress, Amanda Seyfried, play the part of Lacey in my debut novel. The solicitor, Mr. Philip Sherman, played by Jeff Bridges, then Sally by Michelle Pfeiffer and finally Robert, by Jason Stratham. The other characters, Willow and Cora I have no idea.
Tell us about a hidden talent you have that most people don’t know about?
I enjoy public speaking. I have my CC (Competent Communicator) from Toastmasters International and I started the advanced manuals. I also represented my local club Fáilte Toastmasters in competitions. Unfortunately, I no longer have the time to participate but I may go back to it another time.
Wow! All I can say is Slainte!

 

What are you working on currently?
I have my fingers worn to the bone at present because I have three projects on the go. Yes I am a nut to take it all on. I am writing my second novel which is totally different from My Husband’s Sin; it is not even in the same genre. It is a good V evil story, a priest who is sent to do battle with the devil and it all takes place inside a locked room. So who wins? That is a question I have not yet answered LOL.
I am also writing a western novella for a group that I am involved in. The group are called Writers of the West, it is an exciting project. Finally, I am busy seeking a home for a play I have ready for production.
I’m betting on good, but I’m an optomist!

 

What would your perfect day be?
A perfect day, let me think, it would be warm, not too hot, by the sea, with a picnic of cold meats/ white wine/salads. A book of course and would I want company? Well if, Kevin Costner or Charles Bronson were available, or maybe Michael Bublé, he could serenade me right?
Better than Charles Bronson, I suspect! Sounds like nice day – but I wonder what book you’d pick… Thanks for stopping by, Mary!

 

Here is a short Bio and some links to Mary’s website and work:

My Husband’s Sin is the debut novel from Mary T Bradford. She is an Irish author, married and mother of four children. She has been writing short stories for many years with which she has enjoyed publishing success in Ireland and abroad. While working on a story it happened that the story kept getting longer and the word count continued to climb, resulting with Mary having her novel. My Husband’s Sin is published by Tirgearr Publishing.
Recently Mary has dipped into play-writing and one of her plays was shortlisted in the Claremorris Fringe Festival in April of this year and was performed by the Half A Breakfast Theatre Group. Another of her plays had a Staged Reading in July at Friar’s Gate Theatre in Kilmallock, Limerick in Ireland. Her short story collection, A Baker’s Dozen, is also available on Amazon.com. Or in local bookshops.
When not writing, Mary enjoys crafts. In particular, she enjoys crochet and cross-stitch and catching up on her reading from the stack of books on her bedside locker.

LINKS
http://marytbradford-author.blogspot.ie/
http://tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Bradford_MaryT/my-husbands-sin.htm
https://twitter.com/marytbrad
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-T-Bradford-Author/464343040298924?ref=hl

Cover of Five Days on Ballyboy Beach

This is the cover of my second novel, published 19th September 2014 – I don’t want to reveal too much about what the plot is – best to just follow  the path and see where it ends up…

Available now at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk and lots of other places via the book’s Tirgearr Publishing webpage.

You can read some of the reviews on the Tirgearr page, or here on this website:

 

The Island Children learn to leave could be the same the tourists start to flock to?

I talked some time ago about rewilding Islands, and pointed to a few places in Ireland and Scotland that would be prime areas to try bring back a few of the former fauna (and flora) of Europe.

A recent article in the Guardian newspaper shows just how much at least Achill needs some lateral thinking on how to keep the island’s ecomomy going – and stop the few kids left there from going away.

Why not give rewilding a chance on the island?I remember once, going to Achill. We crossed the bridge and drove for a half an hour or so, but there was nothing really to keep us driving out toward the western edge. We’d seen all the sheep we wanted.If the blackfaced sheep are not a tourist draw, and are not keeping farming going in a way that makes the population think of it as a viable option to return to after they’ve been away at college, why not bring in some deer, let the forests grow and prepare the land for the iconic fauna that would make many tourists do more than just cross the bridge and turn back?With hotels closing down, what have they got left to lose?

 

On a par with Hemmingway?

I’ve just finished the first draft of my sixth complete novel, and I have to agree with Hemmingway when he said that “The first draft of anything is shit.”
I look forward to a lot of editing over the next few months, but the first, giant step has been taken.
The first draft is the hardest. It’s where most people stumble. I have five or six other novels in various stages of progression through a first draft. But if you don’t get the first draft done, you don’t have a story. It has to have a beginning, middle and end.
The first time I showed one of the earlier drafts of Leaving the Pack (I have lost count of how many that went through, but twenty is a round number) to a friend, he said he was impressed because it had a beginning, middle and end, and that was more than he could ever do.
This draft has all three. The beginning is too long, the middle too boring and the ending didn’t turn out quite as satisfying as I’d hoped.
But it’s a draft. It’ll get better over the second, third, fourth and whatever number of versions it’ll take to get better. I don’t want to predict, since I am the (checks quickly) tenth draft of a novella that has yet to be even accepted, so that’ll easily get to fifteen before it sees the light of day, if it ever does.

The Treachery of August

I haven’t been very active these last few weeks – been trying to finish my current work in progress, and I am glad to say that if I stay up till 2 am tonight, I’ll have a first draft!
Meanwhile, since all my plans of editing a selection of my short stories and having another novella completed as well as Silver Nights ready to start come September first, are beginning to look like they might not come to fruition, I was reminded of a poem I wrote this very day last year….

The Treachery of August

Ah, it seduces so well: entices one into
Almost awaiting until it arrives before
Beginning a novel, starting a book,
Executing all those excursion plans
With its beguiling promises of long empty days
To fill with what pleasures we would imagine:
Hours of quiet reading, silent writing,
Early morning swims and afternoon naps,
Eternal evenings upon a porch as glare softens to glow.

But it’s all so much illusion:
The days pass faster than counting;
The mornings disappear in groggy-eyed stupor;
Afternoons sweep by, and swims are just splashing
With children upon surfacing from siesta after five;
A walk is too much exertion in extreme heat;
The book interrupted by screaming, questions, requests….
Until September looms as soon as looking up
From our newspaper, to see another summer swept by
With nothing firm to fix it in our memory.

Nominated for Irish Blog Awards 2014

Hey everyone! I just got nominated for the Irish Blog Awards 2014 in two categories – new blog and Irish Diaspora!
Thanks to everyone who looks in on the blog and liked it and commented on things.
I’ll let you know if it gets shortlisted in either category!
David