An Interview with Marilyn Gardiner

by

Cynthianna Appel

How did you get your start writing novels? Was it something you always wanted to do?

I wrote my first novel when I was eight years old, patterned (embarrassingly so) after Anne of Green Gables. I thought it was wonderful and decided then and there I wanted to be an author and have a shelf full of my own books one day. Between then and now, I’ve published a lot of things from children’s stories and Sunday School curriculum, to news writing, poetry, inspirational articles and personality pieces. But, the book-on-the-shelf continued to allude me until recently.

Who are your biggest supporters of your writing? Who would you say exerts the biggest influence on your writing today?

I had my first date with my husband when I was fourteen and he was sixteen years old. From the beginning, he has been the most staunch supporter of my writing. Oh, he still makes noises of neglect from time to time, but generally doesn’t complain about unfolded socks and dinners thrown together at the last minute. My two grown daughters are highly enthusiastic, too. They grew up seeing themselves in print. And now that I have grandchildren they, too, have joined my cheering section. One of them informed me shyly the other day that there might be more than one author in the family one day. Thrilled me to pieces. But even back before my husband entered my life, my grandmother (who only had a sixth grade education) informed the entire family around the Sunday dinner table that one day she expected Marilyn to write all the books she never could. I was astounded. I’ve always felt she was the muse that sits on my shoulder.

I have had the good fortune to belong to several excellent writer’s critique groups over the years. They have had a profound impact on my writing, first by their unflagging conviction that I would one day “make it,” and second by their insistence that I rewrite, again and again, until I had the story the very best of which I was capable of making it.

Tell us about MY PRETTY LADY. What prompted you to write it? What kind of research did you do on the setting, topic, etc.?

MY PRETTY LADY was born as a result of several of my best friends, and both daughters, having to face life as a single parent. The struggle was incalculable in its toll on their personal life and that of their children. The swinging door between despair and delight, pride and disappointment, hope and giving up, was both demoralizing and enervating. I couldn’t *not* write about a situation that is causing so much havoc in our families today. The setting is in the place we lived at the time I was writing the book, the Washington D.C. area. This gives a lot of texture to the story that it might not have had otherwise and provided opportunity and temptation in equal amounts.

What's your favorite scene and why?

My favorite scene is, I think, when Ellen is at the bottom of her emotional energy and has to make an extremely difficult decision. She must decide between the man she loves and one of her children. Other than the death of a child, what mother/woman could face a worse scenario? This was also the most difficult scene to write, naturally. That Ellen emerged triumphant is still, to me, a miracle!

If MY PRETTY LADY was made into a movie, who would play the lead characters?

If MY PRETTY LADY were made into a movie I would want the heroine cast as a socially adept lady (she has, after all, been the wife of a successful lawyer), yet innocent enough to be completely overwhelmed by the dating scene after so many years, and the effort of coping with financial difficulties she’s never faced. Maybe a young…what was the name of the gal who starred as the mother in E.T.?. I can’t remember. I would *not* want a model or glamour girl. I’d want Every Woman to be able to identify with her.

Do you write what you like to read or do you like to experiment and try writing things you've never read before?

Anyone who has looked at the credits below my name on messages on the loop can see that every one of my contracted books was written in a different genre. I like to read almost everything except horror and erotica. So, in a sense, I write what I like to read. My favorite, though, is historical romance. In June, LIKE A RIVER, MY LOVE will be released—and I’m really looking forward to that. Verity and Trey going down the Ohio River in a canoe in 1778. Yes!

Do you have a certain "ritual" about how, when, where you write or do you squeeze your writing time into your schedule when you can?

There was a time when I had to squeeze writing in whenever and wherever I could. I’ve written scenes waiting in doctor’s offices, commuting by bus, on my lunch hour with a sandwich in hand. I’ve written while in bed with the flu, in the middle of the night in bed with a flashlight--once I blocked out an entire story line while having a cat scan done. For three years, I set the alarm for 4:00 AM and wrote for two hours before waking the rest of the family and packing lunches, cooking breakfast, and getting us all ready for work/school. Now, however, I am at the computer from 6:30 every morning until noon, except for mornings when I go to aerobic swim group. In the afternoon I rewrite (by hand, in pencil, from my recliner!) what I wrote in the morning. All this is “whenever possible” because my husband is a minister and I am on call day and night the same as he is. That has to come first. From time to time I get fairly frustrated, not with the people needing me, but with the lack of time to finish what I’d planned to do. If only God had given us thirty hours in a day, I’d accomplish more! <g>

When you're not glued to your computer keyboard spinning fiction, what do you like to do in the "real world"?

My “real world” includes a love of music. I have sung, in groups and alone, all over the entire eastern half of the U.S. While living in the D.C. area, I auditioned for and was accepted by Craig Jessop into the Maryland Choral Society. Dr. Jessop is now one of the conductors of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I clutch that memory to my heart with great glee: I was once good enough for Craig Jessop! Currently, I sing with the Greater Decatur Chorale, a 90-100 strong group. And of course, my own church choir, and some ensemble work. I am a soprano and thoroughly enjoy singing duets with my youngest daughter, who is an alto.

I also knit. Everyone in my family wears a sweater that came from my needles. And I have more afghans than I know what to do with! I also rub brasses when I have the opportunity. My hobby of brass rubbing appears center stage in FLIGHT OF ANGELS. And my husband and I love to travel, get to meet people from all walks of life, cultures, lifestyles. I use all these experiences in my writing. FLIGHT OF ANGELS came from one of our trips to Great Britain. KEEPER OF THE SINGING BONES reflects the time we spent in Jamaica. MY PRETTY LADY has several scenes set in San Francisco. WHEN THE WIND BLOWS takes place in the Orlando Florida area, where we lived at one time. I grew up in southern IL, and absorbed the setting for the ending of LIKE A RIVER, MY LOVE along with milk and cookies. My work-in-progress, BANJO EYES, is set in central Illinois, where I live now.

I can’t imagine anything more rewarding that doing something that gives others enjoyment, food for thought, comfort. For me, that means writing books.

Thanks, Marilyn, for your candid insights on yourself and your writing!