Every family has its rituals, or traditions. They can span generations and provide a comforting constant, fixed points on the timeline of our lives. Some of the Mahoney family rituals are what you’d expect. Others are definitely not.
I’d never been to Alaska. As I got close to writing scenes in the novel that were set there, I grew anxious enough about getting it right that I booked a three-day trip north, which was all I could afford. Here’s how it went.
One of the things I wanted to communicate in The Mahoneys of West Seattle are some of the struggles Americans deal with in both white-collar and blue-collar jobs.
The idea to explore limb-loss in the novel was inspired by experiences I had growing up. The need for rehabilitation and adjustment, I discovered, extends to family and the larger connected community.
With my first novel, I did what most writers do when they start a book. I began at the beginning: chapter one.
With The Mahoneys of West Seattle, I began in the great middle and ignored chapter one until an interesting idea came to me.
Coffee and writing are at the heart of cafe culture. They’re the places we go to write, or meet with others to talk about stories. From one coast to another, here are a few of my favorites.