Laura Catherine Brown’s Made By Mary released Spring 2018 and can be ordered by following the link.
Over winter break, one of our editors, Jenna London, was able to catch up with Laura and ask her a few questions about her inspiration to write Made By Mary, her thoughts on motherhood, and her vast collection of books:
What is the creative origin story for Made by Mary?
Waiting in line at the supermarket, I saw a headline in one of the tabloids that read, “Grandmother Is Mother Until Birth.” The article was bare-bones, a paragraph. I instantly imagined a narcissistic, big-hearted woman who would subsume her daughter’s life within her own womb. I wondered about the daughter who might need her mother in this way. I wondered what the situation would be like for the daughter’s husband. This book began with the characters.
Can you name the books and or other works that inspired or influenced Made by Mary in some way?
I read a lot of books about Wicca and Paganism—two particularly well-written and useful ones: A Witches’ Bible by Stewart and Janet Farrar and The Spiral Dance by Starhawk. I also read TC Boyle’s Drop City for his take on communal living. And I read a slew of 60s spiritual books, including Monday Night Class by Stephen Gaskin, Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin and Be Here Now by Ram Das. I really enjoyed the reading journey I went on with this novel.
Did the novel impact your perspectives on motherhood?
My perspective on motherhood impacted the novel and the novel impacted my perspective. I spent most of my life not wanting children. But I wanted to understand the desire my friends had for motherhood. Inhabiting Ann’s point of view expanded my empathy and appreciation for that yearning. In my late 30s, I changed my mind about children—maybe it was a biological clock thing or maybe my life was just happier. My husband and I tried to have a baby and couldn’t. We did one round of vitro fertilization, spent a lot of money, and the process failed. Ultimately, we chose not to have kids, but it was an emotional roller coaster.
My mom recently pointed out that the novel involves mothering from many different angles. There’s Mary as a mother, of course. Then there’s Ann’s desire to be a mother. There’s the backstory of Mary’s mother. There’s Ann’s foster mother. America is the mother of Cassidy, who’s a lackadaisical mother to her children. Joe’s troubled mother exerts an influence. Also, Mary and Peter connect over the death of Peter’s mother. And there’s Jessica and her mother. I hadn’t seen the full extent of this motherhood-exploration until I visited my mom’s book group and spent an evening discussing their experience of the novel. So illuminating and fun!
What was your favorite part about developing these characters and their unique triangle?
There are two triangles, really. The first is with Jessica and the second with Mary. The Mary triangle was the most fun because she’s so over-the-top. Somewhere during the process of writing this book, I began to feel liberated—anything could happen! My research into Wicca and Paganism and my experience revising the Pagan ritual scenes made me see how I could add an element of magic, which infuses the triangle between and Mary, Joel and Ann. I also loved writing Mary’s sex scenes because she’s hedonistic and crazy.
Do you relate more with Mary, Ann or Joel? Why?
I relate to them all, but I have a special place in my heart for Mary. She’s larger-than-life, generous, needy and expressive, like a big fat “yes.” Ann has formed herself in opposition to her mother, so she became a “no,” which is not as fun to write. As my understanding of Ann deepened, I found her stance more complex and more compelling than just “no.” But initially, she was a challenge. I relate to Joel as someone who tries to avoid conflict. They’re all elements of my own psyche, as well as characters apart from me.
What was the most challenging aspect of revising this novel?
The most challenging aspect of revision was finding the story. I had these characters who were very real to me. I had this situation. I wrote probably 800 pages of material (I’m not exaggerating); delving into each character’s past and putting them through the ringer in scene after scene. But somehow, I continued failing to move the story forward on an emotional or plot level. It took me about five years to realize I didn’t have a story. Then it took me another five years to get over the fact that it had taken me so long to figure out something so obvious. I ended up cutting hundreds of pages of subplots and scenes that essentially repeated the same psychological conflict.
What are similarities and differences in the conception and process between your first and second novels?
A friend of mine described 2 creative tendencies: vomiter or a bleeder. Vomiters produce tons of material they have to sift through. Bleeders drip their material painfully, drop by drop, fully-formed. I’m definitely a vomiter! My first novel gestated for years before I finally started writing, then it poured out. My second novel was formless, with so much material I got lost. My first novel was culled from my life, my second was entirely invented. When I began to draw from my own life for the 2nd novel – for instance, using the place (Sullivan County, upstate NY, site of the original Woodstock concert, where I spent my teenage years) and delving into my own interests—in music, jewelry, spirituality—I began to find my way; and to enjoy the process and the discovery.
What can you tell us about your current project(s)?
I’m writing another novel, INVISIBLE HAND, about an artist, Polly Jamson, who longs for recognition but feels trapped both by her day job in a bank and by the financial and emotional needs of her mother, a “failed artist,” and her sister, a yoga teacher living hand-to-mouth. It takes place during the 2008 financial collapse. When a controversial hedge funder/art collector begins to buy her artwork, Polly comes to hope he can catapult her past conventional art-world gatekeepers into artistic success. Instead, she gets dragged into his chicanery. I’ve been circling around a major revision.
How do you incorporate reading into your life as a writer?
I love to read. It’s why I wanted to be a writer. But I’m always reading several books at once. Someone gave me a T-shirt with a picture of a stack of books that says, “so many books so little time.” That’s my life.
What are the last few books you read and how do they influence your current writing endeavors?
I was bequeathed about 2,500 books a few years ago by a family friend. Every room in her 5-room apartment was lined with bookshelves. I had to donate most of them. But I kept the 13-volume set of Chekov stories by Ecco Press, which I’m gradually getting through—so brilliant in their range and humanity! I also kept her Muriel Spark collection and I’ve been reading those, loving some (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Girls of Slender Means) and not loving others (Drivers Seat). I recently read Florida by Christine Schutt, which was in my room at the Ragdale Foundation, and I loved its spare prose and originality. I have to add a plug for one of my all-time favorite authors— Alice McDermott. Each of her books is a gem. I just finished Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff on my kindle. This may sound obvious, but I’m amazed at how many different ways there are to tell a story. What I love about all these writers is how, to quote Emily Dickinson, they “tell all the truth but tell it slant.” The telling is as narratively compelling as the story.
How have writing workshops and residencies enhanced your writing and your novels?
I’m not sure I would have been able to complete either of my novels without the incredible gift of artist residencies. Most residencies provide food, bedroom and a studio to work in, and host artists of all disciplines (visual, musical, literary). The freedom from chores and meal preparation is a blessing and then some. There’s time and space to sit with your work and connect to the “long thought,” which is the quality of knowledge and being that allows for a deepening and an expansion of consciousness.
Writing workshops offer support, feedback and community, and have helped me develop a thick skin, which writers need to deal with all the rejection! Mingling with a diversity of writers of all ages, stages and genres is inspiring and energizing.
Writing is solitary and time-consuming, workshops and conferences are social and intense, and residencies provide the best of both: solitude and community.
Laura Catherine Brown’s second novel, Made By Mary was published with C&R Press in spring 2018. Her first novel, Quickening, published by Random House, was featured in Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great New Writers series. Her short stories have appeared in several literary journals, including Monkeybicycle, Paragraphiti and Tin House. Her books have come about, in part, because of the great luck she has had in attending residencies at Byrdcliffe, Djerassi, Millay Colony, Ragdale, Ucross, Vermont Studio Center, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She lives in New York City where she’s currently writing a third novel.
Grab a copy of Made By Mary here!