I am pleased to be featuring Claire Fullerton's Mourning Dove. A historical novel set in 1970's Memphis, it portrays the nuances of life there at the time. Claire has agreed to answer some of my questions but before we get to her answers, here's a little about the book:
The heart has a home when it has an ally.
If Millie Crossan doesn't know anything else, she knows this
one truth simply because her brother Finley grew up beside her. Charismatic
Finley, eighteen months her senior, becomes Millie's guide when their mother
Posey leaves their father and moves her children from Minnesota to Memphis
shortly after Millie's tenth birthday.
Memphis is a world foreign to Millie and Finley. This is the
1970s Memphis, the genteel world of their mother's upbringing and vastly
different from anything they've ever known. Here they are the outsiders. Here,
they only have each other. And here, as the years fold over themselves, they
mature in a manicured Southern culture where they learn firsthand that much of
what glitters isn't gold. Nuance, tradition, and Southern eccentrics flavor
Millie and Finley's world as they find their way to belonging. But what hidden
variables take their shared history to leave both brother and sister at such
disparate ends?
Welcome to Books, Life and Everything. Thank you so much for
agreeing to answer some questions on my blog about your writing.
Would you like to start by telling us a little about
yourself and how you started as a writer? I grew up In the Delta, in Memphis,
Tennessee. I now live in Malibu, California with my husband, two German
shepherds, and one black cat. My career has been in one facet of the
communicative arts or another. I have a background in ballet, enjoyed a
nine-year career on-air in radio, and worked in the Los Angeles music business
where I took bands to record companies. All along, I have been a writer. I have
3 published novels and a fourth in the hands of my literary agent.
Without spoiling the plot, please could you tell us a bit
about The Mourning Dove ?
Mourning Dove is a coming of age, Southern family saga set
in 1970’s Memphis. Millie Crossan tells the story of growing up alongside her
brother, Finley, who is charismatic and musically gifted. The siblings were
uprooted from their home in Minnesota and moved to the Deep South, so they are
outsiders in a nuanced Southern culture. Their mother, Posey is a socialite
from Memphis, so the siblings have to learn to navigate their new surroundings.
Mourning Dove is a story of siblings who share a history yet come to disparate
ends.
Mourning Dove is set in the 1970’s and 1980’s in Memphis.
How do you go about researching detail and ensuring your books are realistic?
Because I grew up in Memphis, I retained impressions and
images that are telling of the culture. The people, I found, were dynamic and
fabulous, so I wanted to portray what, to me, was the old South, in that much
of it is now changed. I took notes when I began Mourning Dove of scenes and
particular turns of phrases I wanted to work into the story as the arch grew.
Because I knew the point I wanted to make in the story, all aims were toward
realistically setting the environment.
What are your writing routines and where do you do most of
your writing?
When I am writing a novel, I am committed, and don’t want to
lose the thread. I go to my office first thing in the morning and pretty much
write all day, every day until the first draft is finished. Then I review the
manuscript repeatedly, looking at continuity, dialogue, and setting. When I am
satisfied I’ve done my best, I send it to my editor.
If you hadn’t become a writer, what would you have done as a
creative outlet?
Something in the arts. I loved being in radio, but I didn’t
pursue it when I moved from Memphis to California, as I speak with a Delta
accent! I still teach ballet barre and Pilates mat. Because I love dogs, sometimes
I think, “Maybe I should drop everything and become a dog trainer!”
Do you base any of your characters on people you know?
Yes, but I veil it when I do. I am fascinated by people and
like to capture their idiosyncrasies, celebrate their uniqueness, if you will.
Some characters in Mourning Dove are composites intended to portray Southern
culture and the wonderful characters that comprise the South.
Finally, do you have three words which sum up The Mourning
Dove?
Nostalgic, introspective, confessional.
Thanks so much for dropping by today, Claire, and good luck with your writing!
My Thoughts
I
found the style of writing to be calm and unhurried and it had the
flavour of a memoir to me. Written in the first person, through the eyes
of Millie Crossan, you see how disregarded young people must have felt
at that time. The subtleties of life in Memphis at that time, in their
mother's world, are conveyed throughout, as Millie and her brother look
on from the periphery.
Family dynamics are examined and pulled apart and the relationship
between the siblings is fascinating. At times, it feels claustrophobic
and although I thought the relationship between the siblings was centre
stage, it is actually that between Millie and her mother which rivetted
me the most. Similarly, they never fall out of love with their father
despite his faults.
In short: A lyrical tale of family dynamics.
About the Author
Claire Fullerton grew up in Memphis, TN and now lives in
Dancing to an
Irish Reel," set in Connemara, Ireland, where she once lived. Dancing to
an Irish Reel is a finalist in the 2016 Kindle Book Review Awards, and a 2016
Readers' Favorite. Claire is the author of "A Portal in Time," a
paranormal mystery that unfolds in two time periods, set on California's
hauntingly beautiful Monterey Peninsula, in a village called Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Both of Claire's novels are published by Vinspire Publishing. Her third novel,
Mourning Dove, is a Southern family saga, published in June, 2018 by Firefly
Southern Fiction. She is one of four contributors to the book, Southern
Seasons, with her novella, Through an Autumn Window, to be published in
November 2018 by Firefly Southern Fiction. Claire is represented by Julie
Gwinn, of The Seymour Literary Agency, and can be found on WordPress, Twitter
(cfullerton3) Goodreads, Instagram ( cffullerton) as well as the website under
her name.
Malibu, CA. She is the author of contemporary fiction, "
Find out more by checking out the rest of the tour!
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