Monica McInerney – Warm Family Dramas

Monica McInerney’s best-selling and award-winning books explore the resilience and fragility of family bonds, whether in a single-mother family as in her latest book, The Godmothers, or in earlier ones like the hugely popular The Trip of a Lifetime. This one introduced, as one critic put it, “a huge-hearted and colorful family you’ll want to call your own”. Australian born and Dublin based when we’re not in pandemic, Monica tops reader popularity polls for warm family stories packed with emotion on both sides of the world. Hi, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler, and today Monica talks about why she loves the drama of big families – she’s from a big family herself – and about her first published book in her primary school library. She got her first paid writing job as a script writer on a popular children’s TV show when she was just in her teens, and she has been writing in one form or another ever since. Six Things You'll Learn Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: Being part of a big familyGetting her start in children's TVLiving between two countriesThe two year project that never got publishedThe writers Monica most admiresWhy being a passionate reader helps her writing Where to find Monica McInerney:  Website:  http://www.monicamcinerney.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monicamcinerneyauthor/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monicamcinerneyauthor/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/47105.Monica_McInerney What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions. But now, here’s Monica.Jenny Wheeler: Hello there, Monica and welcome to the show. It's great to have you with us. Introducing Monica McInerney Monica McInerney: Hello, Jenny. Thanks very much for talking to me. Monica McInerney - popular family stories Jenny Wheeler: You are in South Australia, I'm in New Zealand; we're both rather lucky in terms of what's going on in the rest of the world. You have been published regularly in Australia's Booktopia Top 10 as one of the most popular authors in that country, and you've made emotional women's stories your chosen area of expertise. As one reviewer put it, you explore the resiliency and fragility of family bonds. What drew you to that territory initially? Monica McInerney: I think it's because I grew up as the middle child in a family of nine, Jenny, to be honest. I've got six brothers and sisters and I'm the middle child. I grew up in a small country town called Clare in the Clare Valley of South Australia. From the earliest I can remember I was surrounded by people, by drama, by comedy. My father was the railway stationmaster and we lived in the stationmaster's house. It was always visitors, friends, families, relatives visiting, and so constant squeaking of the gate as people arrived with stories to tell – some news, some drama, a funny thing to share – and that really concentrated my mind, even as a child, how interesting families can be. Agatha Christie's microcosm Agatha Christie always said that she set all of her books in small villages because they were a microcosm of the whole world. For me, families are that. Through them are introduced to so many different elements of being a human being under the family roof – grief and love and sometimes bitterness, sometimes difficulties, sibling rivalry, and all of that is such rich pickings for a novel, so I trace it all back to my childhood. Never Miss out!Never miss out on the hottest new authors, regular FREE BOOK OFFERS and Most Popular podcasts.Yes please to FREE BOOKS and updates on popular booksWe won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time..formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] *{box-sizing:border-box;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"]{-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-moz-osx-font-smoothing:grayscale;}.