Interview Claire Bocardo

by

Erin Moore

1. Tell the readers a little about your story.

Becoming Sarah is the story of a 35-year-old virgin, set in 1975 in small-town Texas. Sarah Jane MacAuley stayed home to raise the younger kids after her mother died. Now she’s living with her overbearing father, wishing to get out from under his thumb and become her own person. The trouble is, she doesn’t know who that person might be. Sarah has to not only free herself, but also to discover who she is. The story includes a Mr. Wrong and a Mr. Right, since part of growing up is discovering her sexuality.

The title comes from the fact that she’s been called “Sissy” all her life--a function, not a person--and wants to be called by her real name. 

2. You’ve done well, with three books published and now a fourth coming out. Do you write exclusively for Wings or are there any other Claire Bocardo books out there we should look for?

Becoming Sarah has never been published before. My first three books (and two novellas, part of Christmas collections) were published in the early ‘90s in Zebra’s “To Love Again” line, and they went out of print the minute the press stopped running. I’m very glad to have them available again, now in both download and Publish on Demand form.

3. Do you write other genres, or are you hoping to eventually branch out into other genres one day?

The books I’ve written have all basically been about some woman figuring out who she is and what of it. Each has contained a romance (or two), but as subplots. Now, having explored that subject to my satisfaction, I’m moving into something more like “magical realism” or fantasy.

4. What can we expect in the future from you?  What are you working on now?

I’m working on a novel based on the idea of parallel universes: the woman finds a “thin spot” between realities and meets the self she would have been if she’d made a different decision. It will not contain a love story. (At least, I don’t expect it to; I haven’t got there yet!)

5. How long does it normally take you to complete a novel, from the very beginning until you are ready to turn it in to the publisher?

It depends on the book and what else is going on in my life. The shortest took about six months, and the longest nearly four years; I had to set it aside for about two years in the middle of writing to rebuild my life after I became a widow.

6. Do you have a web site?

No. I’m a techno-dummy: I don’t even have the patience to surf the web, let alone build a website. I know I need one, but I just haven’t been able to whip myself into it.

7. How long have you been writing?

In a sense, all my life, but until I was 40 I thought that anybody who could talk could write; it was no big deal. Then I discovered it “ain’t necessarily so,” and I got serious about fiction. It took ten years (until 1992) to get the first novel published (actually, it was the third: the first was dreadful, and the second didn’t sell).

8. Who in your life has been your biggest fan and has never failed to support you?

I’ve never had one of those, though I’ve had supportive friends. I write for my own entertainment, and nobody in my immediate family has ever read one of my books all the way through; they’ve just been “Mom’s stuff:” a hobby, even after publication. (That may be just as well; the books might tell my kids more than they want to know about their mother!) I’ve created a small writers’ group here in North Texas, and I belong to the Greater Dallas Writers’ Association even though I live 60 miles from there, and we exchange advice and support on a regular basis.

9. With three books already published and this is the fourth, can you share with us what a regular day of writing is like?

I usually write in the morning when I’m fresh, a scene or two a day if it’s going well. If it’s not, I don’t write at all; I think about the project or do research. I have no regular schedule. The book I’m writing now is going slowly because I’m feeling my way into the plot. It’s quite a challenge, but I’m enjoying it.

10. What advice would you give to new authors?

Write. Just do it: write the story you want to read as well as you can, and then find or form a writers’ workshop to get unbiased opinions about how to make it better--but remember that it’s your story; you don’t have to take anybody’s advice unless you agree with it. Study books on fiction technique, and consider subscribing to Writer’s Digest or The Writer for more tips.

When you’re just beginning, agents and publishers are far into the future. You wouldn’t plan a concert career while you were still learning to play scales; in the same way, don’t worry about selling your book until you’ve learned to write.