Jason Howell
asked
Colm Herron:
The Wake is dedicated to your daughter, Nuala Herron (an exceptional artist in her own right). Was she around the same age as the Jeremiah character when you began writing the book? If so, was this an impetus at all? Do you think you could have written this novel before you were a parent?
Colm Herron
I dedicated The Wake to Nuala because she did a really flattering portrait of me in oils. And it’s now there on my website and on the back cover of my novel. (Don’t everybody rush at once. Flattering is a relative term). She got very little money for her efforts but I hope she is consoled because no longer can people say about me: “He’s no oil painting.” Actually, I’m very proud of her and I’m making a promise here and now that I’ll pay her a lot more if The Wake (And What Jeremiah Did Next) makes me rich. So there it is in writing.
Nuala was in fact around the same age as Jeremiah when I began the novel. But this was not an impetus. The spur was to get myself into another novel. I’d been in the first three so I wanted to keep it going. In this way (though in no other way) I suppose I could be compared to the late Alfred Hitchcock who liked to have at the very least a walk-on part in his movies.
To get to the last part of your question: "Do you think you could have written this novel before you were a parent?" The answer is no and the reason is that I would have been afraid to explore existential questions.
The influence of my wife Fidelis was paramount here. She encouraged me to think outside of myself and to question everything the high and the mighty said. She supported and shared my growing agnosticism in matters both religious and secular. And she told me I was funny. “You’re comical,” she would sometimes say. “Get that thing you just said down paper and you’ll have them rolling in the aisles” (Like mother, like daughter. They both flatter). I asked her if she meant the aisles of our local church. She said she did not.
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*The Wake* on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017CCHRNG
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Nuala was in fact around the same age as Jeremiah when I began the novel. But this was not an impetus. The spur was to get myself into another novel. I’d been in the first three so I wanted to keep it going. In this way (though in no other way) I suppose I could be compared to the late Alfred Hitchcock who liked to have at the very least a walk-on part in his movies.
To get to the last part of your question: "Do you think you could have written this novel before you were a parent?" The answer is no and the reason is that I would have been afraid to explore existential questions.
The influence of my wife Fidelis was paramount here. She encouraged me to think outside of myself and to question everything the high and the mighty said. She supported and shared my growing agnosticism in matters both religious and secular. And she told me I was funny. “You’re comical,” she would sometimes say. “Get that thing you just said down paper and you’ll have them rolling in the aisles” (Like mother, like daughter. They both flatter). I asked her if she meant the aisles of our local church. She said she did not.
_______________
*The Wake* on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017CCHRNG
_______________
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