Tracey, thank you for hosting this week! To start, can you please tell us a little about yourself and your novel?
Thank you for inviting me! I’m so excited for the release of The Engineer’s Wife. It has been a loooong time coming. I actually first wrote the story as a screenplay almost ten years ago. but a very wise Hollywood producer convinced me to write the novel. I am a retired Registered Nurse. Aside from reading and writing, my hobbies are cooking (but mostly because I like to eat 😉 ) and interior design.
How were you inspired to write The Engineer’s Wife? What sparked your interest in the Brooklyn Bridge?
The idea sprang, oddly enough, from a time when my son was serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was an Explosive Ordinance Disposal expert. Think Hurt Locker. It was a very dangerous occupation, a mother’s worst nightmare. Adding to that, my husband was also active duty, a great inspiration to my son, but a difficult time for the family. Writing was my outlet, and the theme I wanted to explore was: What family dynamics are in play, when the very occupation that sustains them, and binds them together, may also kill them?
I wanted to write a fictionalized version of a real family, from the female perspective, but I wanted to stray from military and war. In my research, I discovered the Roebling family, and most especially, Emily Warren Roebling.
I was immediately fascinated by this woman, and the times she lived in. Her pluck, bravery, and sheer determination, in the midst of an enormous task that was destroying her beloved family, was irresistible. I was driven to write her story.
Early on, I realized I couldn’t squeeze the story I imagined into a play. So I wrote a screenplay. And I loved it. But the screenplay also couldn’t come close to the magnitude of the story. And then I stumbled into the exciting, difficult, confounding, and rewarding world of novel writing.
I wrote more about my obsession with Emily and the Brooklyn Bridge here:
Did you find anything in your research that was particularly fascinating or that helped shape the novel?
Not knowing much about bridge construction, I had a steep learning curve there. I also dove deep into the era, the fashion, politics, current events, and of course New York City history of the time. Having had an excellent college course in Women’s Studies, which delved into issues such as how fashion affected women’s progress, I knew this had to be included. And so much more-the history of suffrage, of P.T. Barnum, the Civil War experiences of my historical characters. I looked up the etymology of many words to ensure they were in use at the time, and that the meaning was the same as today. I had to make sure every business and product mentioned was around at the time.
Luckily for me, I grew up in the surrounding area, so at least the geographic features, flora and fauna were familiar to me.
What is your favorite time period to write about? To read about?
I enjoy reading and writing about 19th and early 20th centuries. I am also obsessed with the 1960’s; I think I’ve watched the entire Mad Men series 3 times. I have a partially written novel set during that time frame that I hope to get back to someday.
What has been your greatest challenge as a writer? How have you been able to overcome that?
My biggest challenge is setting consistent goals, and then sticking to them. I admire the writers who do NaNo every year, and have joined both online and in person accountability groups to help me with this. But I find I am a binge writer, and all attempts to churn out a required number of words causes me to produce flat prose. I write my best stuff in 14-hour mad rushes of creativity.
Who are your writing inspirations?
I enjoy the work of Kristin Hannah and Ann Hood. Their writing seems to effortless, the characters come alive, and they world build without me noticing they’re world building. It’s just so seamless.
What are you reading at the moment?
I am reading for my book club at the moment. We just did American Dirt, which I admit I did not finish. Next up is Midwives by Chris Bohjalian.
What are three things people may not know about you?
I also write non-fiction. My anthology/cookbook Homefront Cooking, Recipes, Wit, and Wisdom from American Veterans and their Loved Ones came out in 2018, and I am enormously proud of it. I donate all my proceeds to the Robert Irvine Foundation in support of veterans and First Responders.
I’ve moved over 20 times, mostly due to my husband’s military career, but the last 4 moves being due to us not being able to settle in one place.
I grew up in a town that does a cameo in my novel. Historically, it’s very possible something like the scene could have happened in that setting, but it arose entirely from my imagination. I’m sneaky like that.
Care to share what you are working on now?
I’m writing about another woman who did amazing things, but is lost in the pages of history. She, like me, was a nurse.
Thank you for inviting me! I’m so excited for the release of The Engineer’s Wife. It has been a loooong time coming. I actually first wrote the story as a screenplay almost ten years ago. but a very wise Hollywood producer convinced me to write the novel.
I am a retired Registered Nurse. Aside from reading and writing, my hobbies are cooking (but mostly because I like to eat 😉 ) and interior design.
How were you inspired to write The Engineer’s Wife? What sparked your interest in the Brooklyn Bridge?
The idea sprang, oddly enough, from a time when my son was serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was an Explosive Ordinance Disposal expert. Think Hurt Locker. It was a very dangerous occupation, a mother’s worst nightmare. Adding to that, my husband was also active duty, a great inspiration to my son, but a difficult time for the family. Writing was my outlet, and the theme I wanted to explore was: What family dynamics are in play, when the very occupation that sustains them, and binds them together, may also kill them?
I wanted to write a fictionalized version of a real family, from the female perspective, but I wanted to stray from military and war. In my research, I discovered the Roebling family, and most especially, Emily Warren Roebling.
I was immediately fascinated by this woman, and the times she lived in. Her pluck, bravery, and sheer determination, in the midst of an enormous task that was destroying her beloved family, was irresistible. I was driven to write her story.
Early on, I realized I couldn’t squeeze the story I imagined into a play. So I wrote a screenplay. And I loved it. But the screenplay also couldn’t come close to the magnitude of the story. And then I stumbled into the exciting, difficult, confounding, and rewarding world of novel writing.
I wrote more about my obsession with Emily and the Brooklyn Bridge here:
http://booksbywomen.org/my-obsession-...
Did you find anything in your research that was particularly fascinating or that helped shape the novel?
Not knowing much about bridge construction, I had a steep learning curve there. I also dove deep into the era, the fashion, politics, current events, and of course New York City history of the time. Having had an excellent college course in Women’s Studies, which delved into issues such as how fashion affected women’s progress, I knew this had to be included. And so much more-the history of suffrage, of P.T. Barnum, the Civil War experiences of my historical characters. I looked up the etymology of many words to ensure they were in use at the time, and that the meaning was the same as today. I had to make sure every business and product mentioned was around at the time.
Luckily for me, I grew up in the surrounding area, so at least the geographic features, flora and fauna were familiar to me.
What is your favorite time period to write about? To read about?
I enjoy reading and writing about 19th and early 20th centuries. I am also obsessed with the 1960’s; I think I’ve watched the entire Mad Men series 3 times. I have a partially written novel set during that time frame that I hope to get back to someday.
What has been your greatest challenge as a writer? How have you been able to overcome that?
My biggest challenge is setting consistent goals, and then sticking to them. I admire the writers who do NaNo every year, and have joined both online and in person accountability groups to help me with this. But I find I am a binge writer, and all attempts to churn out a required number of words causes me to produce flat prose. I write my best stuff in 14-hour mad rushes of creativity.
Who are your writing inspirations?
I enjoy the work of Kristin Hannah and Ann Hood. Their writing seems to effortless, the characters come alive, and they world build without me noticing they’re world building. It’s just so seamless.
What are you reading at the moment?
I am reading for my book club at the moment. We just did American Dirt, which I admit I did not finish. Next up is Midwives by Chris Bohjalian.
What are three things people may not know about you?
I also write non-fiction. My anthology/cookbook Homefront Cooking, Recipes, Wit, and Wisdom from American Veterans and their Loved Ones came out in 2018, and I am enormously proud of it. I donate all my proceeds to the Robert Irvine Foundation in support of veterans and First Responders.
I’ve moved over 20 times, mostly due to my husband’s military career, but the last 4 moves being due to us not being able to settle in one place.
I grew up in a town that does a cameo in my novel. Historically, it’s very possible something like the scene could have happened in that setting, but it arose entirely from my imagination. I’m sneaky like that.
Care to share what you are working on now?
I’m writing about another woman who did amazing things, but is lost in the pages of history. She, like me, was a nurse.