Today in an all new session of Author Q&A, we have the Irish best-selling author, Clare Dowling, who entrances our hearts and minds every time she releases a heart-warming novel. Author of 12 deeply moving and equally entertaining novels that tells us a story inspired from our everyday lives. So let's talk with her to know more about her, her career, her books and life beyond books!
Read the review of A Special Delivery
Me: Hello and welcome to my blog, Clare. Congratulations on your latest book, A Special Delivery. Can you please share with us the story behind the book, A Special Delivery?
Clare: Thanks, Aditi! ‘A Special Delivery’ is a story about the Bradys, a working-class family from Dublin who, like a lot of families, have their fair share of skeletons in the closet. But when a baby is abandoned in their front garden, their world is turned upside down, with the paternity of the baby in hot dispute. A tragic-comedy, the central characters are mother Aisling, and teenage parents Nicola and Anto, who are all struggling to come to terms with this new addition to the family – and what has happened in the past.
Me: Who/What was the inspiration behind A Special Delivery?
Clare: I had this book pretty much planned out, but when I started to write it, the teenage voices of Anto and Nicola intended as minor characters began to take over almost immediately. This doesn’t often happen to me. I like to know where things are going! But I decided to take a chance on it and see where it led. So what started out as a middle-aged couple trying to adjust to their children leaving home, ended up being pulled back by about ten years, to become a big family drama with the children very much still at home.
Me: Why do you prefer to write about family drama and issues related to family, relationships and events from our every day lives?
Clare: As a reader, I’ve always preferred stories that take a look at normal life, in all its ordinariness and extra-ordinariness. I’m a huge fan of Anne Tyler, who does this brilliantly. Life happens on such a small scale for most of us, with no Hollywood happenings or big endings, but that’s not to say it’s boring. Far from it – it’s in the everyday stuff, the routines, the relationships, the people in your life where the big, human dramas often happen.
Me: In your bio, it says that you've been a theater actress as well as an award winning short films producer/screenwriter. How/When did you choose the road to writing novels? And describe your journey so far as an author?
Clare: I trained as an actress, and worked in theater for most of my twenties, co-founding a women’s theater company. We found it difficult to find plays with good parts for young women, and I ended up writing a stage play for our company to produce. Gradually, I moved away from acting and more into writing plays at first, and then journalism to pay the bills. I also had two short films produced,before taking a sidestep into television. I’m a regular screenwriter on an Irish soap, ‘Fair City’, and for children’s television. I wrote my first novel fifteen years ago just three chapters and a synopsis to start off with, and when I got an expression of interest from a publisher, I was forced to actually write the book. I loved the experience so much that I now write a novel every eighteen months. I balance it with my television work. I love the solitary nature of novel writing, but I also need the sociability and buzz of television writing! I’ve been very lucky to be able to combine the two.
Me: Was it always your one true dream to be a writer? And apart from writing novels and scripts, what other passions do you have?
Clare: I always had a love of writing, even when I was very young. I was a great reader and essay writer all through school, and by my teens I was writing many flowery, over-the-top melodramas that I would be too embarrassed now to show anybody! In my spare time, I go running, and I also play on a women’s football team, to counterbalance sitting in front of a computer and drinking coffee all day long.
Me: In your book, A Special Delivery, can you tell us one trait of your protagonist, Aisling, that intrigue you the most?
Clare: She’s a coper, like a lot of women who balance work and family, and often don’t get a lot of credit for it. She’s caught between so many people and pressures that she feels almost swallowed up by her family. But with the arrival of the abandoned baby, we see her roar having made so many mistakes with her own children, she’s going to fight to get the best for this baby, and that’s when she becomes a force to be reckoned with.
Me: Who is your inspiration in your life? And in this New Year, please tell us about your one New Year resolution.
Clare: As a writer, I don’t have to look far for inspiration. There are so many wonderful writers putting out fantastic books at the moment, such as Jojo Moyes, Donna Tartt and Gillian Flynn, to name but a few. I always have several books on the go at any one time, which is one of the nicest parts of being a writer – and I’ll often overcome a dry spell by reading something by one of my favourite authors.
My one New Year resolution is to make more time for reading. There are a lot of demands on our time – take a bow, Twitter, and Facebook – and precious reading time can get whittled away if I’m not careful.
Me: How will you describe your normal writing day and how do you unwind after a long day's work?
Clare: I write while my children are in school, and knock off in the afternoon when they’re home. I usually end up going back at night to catch up, so weekdays tend to be full on. I try not to work at the weekends. As a television writer, there’s nothing I like more than sitting down with a box set or Netflix, and watching a couple of episodes back-to-back of one of the many brilliant TV shows out there.
Me: What's next up on your writing sleeves? Please tell us briefly about it.
Clare: I’m currently in the middle of my next book, Two Good People, about Harriet and Nick, who rediscover each other on Facebook after a period of twenty years. It’s a funny, sad, and tangled story about whether resurrecting a First Love is ever a good idea – especially when they are wives, kids and careers involved. And my heroine, Harriet, will develop claws, which I’m quite interested in – women who are not necessarily always likeable.
Me: Thank you so much, Clare, for having this interview session with me for my blog. I can only wish you luck in all your future endeavors.
Clare: Thank you, Aditi, it’s been great chatting with you!
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Clare's Bio:
Clare Dowling is a screenwriter and bestselling author. She's had many jobs, including as an actress, a waitress and a legal secretary before turning to writing full-time. She's had eleven novels published, and she also writes scripts for television. She lives in Dublin with her family.
Visit her here
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