Pump Up Your Book Chats with Shana Mahaffey

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Shana Mahaffey lives in San Francisco in an Edwardian compound that she shares with an informal cooperative of family, friends and five cats. She’s a survivor of Catechism and cat scratch fever, and is a member of the Sanchez Grotto Annex, a writers’ community. Her work has been published in SoMa Literary Review and Sunset Magazine. She welcomes all visitors to her website www.shanamahaffey.com, and is happy to meet with book groups in-person or in cyberspace (phone/webcam/the works).

Her latest book is Sounds Like Crazy.

Q: Thank you for this interview, Shana. Can you tell us why you wrote your book?

I have many thoughts that have lapped my mind most of my life. Years ago, I decided that I could maybe sideline some of them if I explored them through writing. I wrote Sounds Like Crazy to explore how the mind copes with trauma; the lengths a person will go to when s/he wants to shield themselves from something fraught with emotion, confusion, guilt, etc.—all those pesky emotions that can stop us in our tracks and keep us there for years.

Q: Which part of the book was the hardest to write?

I had the toughest time writing the first quarter of the book. In addition to my main character, I technical had five more main characters, because these were all a part of Holly’s psyche. Add to this getting in the supporting characters, Holly’s job, life, etc. It was definitely an uphill climb.

Q: Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?

The underlying message for me is best explained by the quote from one of my favorite Bruce Springteen song, which is at the beginning of the book: “For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside that it ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive…” It speaks to what I was trying to say, on many levels, in Sounds Like Crazy.

Q: What was one of your favorite books as a child?

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (as everyone knows!).

Q: What is your favorite book as an adult?

The Chronicle’s of Amber by Roget Zelazny. Technically, this is five books, but you can buy them altogether, so I will call the five, one. I never did well in math anyway J.

Q: What are you reading now?

The Lieberman/Reinhart mystery series by Frank Tallis.

Q: Do you remember when the writing bug hit?

Fourth grade. I wrote my first poem about a goldfish. Not much to write home about as it were.

I am a little goldfish

that swims and swims all day

nothing to do by play and play

and swim and swim all day.

Q: Besides books, what else do you write? Do you write for publications?

Besides books I write the very occasional poem (I’ve published several over the years), short story, essay, book review. I also blog regularly under my name and on behalf of my cat, Howard Hawks. And, to support my novel writing habit, I write am a marketing and technology writer having written a ton of content running the gamut from website, datasheets, case studies, technology papers, and articles. This content is either anonymous or ghost written for others.

Q: Do you have a writing tip you’d like to share?

Treat writing like training for an Iron man—do it every single day, without fail, not matter how much you might not want to.

Q: Would you like to tell us about your home life? Where you live? Family? Pets?

I live with two cats—Howard Hawks and Raphael—in the Lower Haight area of San Francisco. My home is an apartment in a multi-unit Edwardian building (built before the 1906 earthquake) affectionately know as “the compound, the hippie compound, or the Pierce Street compound.” The situation in which I live is referred to as a “Modern Day Tales of the City” by friends and family who do not live here. It’s a family-owned dwelling consisting of two “well loved” buildings with a city garden in between. While we all have our own homes, we definitely live as a community, sharing responsibilities, meeting for house dinners, etc. We’re also avid environmentalists sharing cars, riding bikes, using only eco friendly products, obsessively recycling and composting and so forth. The one duty we all take most seriously is tending to the needs of the five cats who also dwell at the compound. The old adage “dogs have owners and cats have staff” is absolutely applicable here at Pierce Street. We open doors for them, offer cat taxi rides (=carry) across the garden for the old and venerable (one of my cats), distribute snacks, dispose of mouse bits, and other duties as dictated daily by the cats. This feline responsibility is not for the faint of heart, but we do our best.

Q: Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

At home, I always sit in my bed and write with my computer in my lap. I do my marketing/technology work at my kitchen table so I like the separate of church and state as it were. I also have a writing office in the ground floor of a Victorian building (a former crack lab) that I share with 12 other authors. My office doesn’t even have four walls, but I am closest to the heater (a year-round necessity in San Francisco) and the bathroom (also a year-round necessity for someone who drinks a lot of water). I love my writing office, which I painted my favorite color—purple—and my writing community—a group of very supportive, creative, interesting people who span the spectrum of writers.

Q: What do you do to get away from it all?

If I have to stay local, I go for a walk, bike ride to the beach, or yoga. If I can leave town, I like to go skiing.

Q: Were you the kind of child who always had a book in her/his hand?

I read constantly. At night, I used to hide under my covers with a flashlight to read after everyone had gone to bed. By age 12, I had read 54 Nancy Drew books, all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, all E.B. White books, The Little Prince, Madeleine L’Engle books, etc. When I had nothing left, I asked my mother for more books. Instead of calling her father who taught high school English, she said, “Take something off my pile.” She didn’t realize her mistake until I got caught reading “The Lonely Lady” on the school bus. Next thing I know the pile is gone and in my hands was “Catcher in the Rye.”

Q: Can you remember your favorite book?

My favorite was definitely Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. A few years ago, my sister, Colleen, gave me a copy of Charlotte’s Web for Christmas. Inside she wrote, “For those days when you just feel like being a kid again.”

Q: Do you remember writing stories when you were a child?

I wrote mostly letters to my grandfather, the high school English teacher, as a child. These were, I am sure, like stories to him. And, my letters were always returned to me corrected, so, this was my first experience with an editor.

Q: What was the first thing you did as far as promoting your book?

I read from it at Barely Published Authors, a Litquake event (Litquake is San Francisco’s annual, week-long literary event). I was working with my agent, but hadn’t signed yet, and there was no publishing contract in sight. But, I knew it was going to happen, so I went for it when invited to speak.

Q: Are you familiar with the social networks and do you actively participate?

Absolutely. I have a blog, Facebook page, I tweet (not as regularly as I should), and I use grassroots marketing like blog tours to promote my book.

Q: How do you think book promotion has changed over the years?

Unless you’re a high profile author, or an author with some serious connections, it is very difficult to get any kind of publicity for your book. Moreover, it used to be all up to the newspapers, magazines, and the connections your overworked public relations person at the publisher had if you got any notice at all. Nowadays, the social networking savvy author can take advantage of Facebook, Twitter, blog tours, book trailers, fresh websites, etc. to promote a book.

Q: What is the most frustrating part of being an author?

The only frustration for me is how long it takes from the sale of the book to the actual publication. In my case, Sounds Like Crazy was sold in June 2008 and was not released until October 2009. And, the only reason publication was October 2009 instead of January 2010 is because I had several promotional opportunities, including a speaking slot at the Carmel Authors and Ideas festival, two opportunities at Litquake, and some book club meetings.

Q: What is the most rewarding?

The most rewarding part of being an author is hearing from and meeting readers. I’ve gotten so many delightful emails and have met many readers at book readings, book club meetings, and so forth. All I can say is, wow, there are so many cool and interesting people in the world .

Q: How do you think book publishing has changed over the years?

With the advent of the Kindle, Sony eReader, and iPad amongst other things, digital books are becoming more and more pervasive. The publishing industry has been, it seems, caught without a plan (and after what happened to the music industry, they should have seen the change on the horizon). Fewer books are getting published, bookstores are struggling, and so on. I am hoping publishing can find a way to flourish in the digital age, and I am praying bookstores, libraries, etc. find a way to adapt and stay alive. The world without bookstores and libraries will be a depressing place indeed.

Q: If you had one wish, what would that be?

I have a lot of wishes, but the most pervasive at the moment is my wish that we find a way to maintain a balance between wildlife and human life on this planet. There has to be a way for us to coexist. I can’t imagine a planet without whales, wolves, jaguars, polar bears, bees… you get the picture.

On the more personal level, my one wish is to support myself as a fulltime author.

Q: If you could be anywhere in the world other than where you are right now, where would that place be?

The farm that is in Monet’s stark winter scene, “The Magpie.” I love winter, I love blackbirds, and the scene looks so peaceful, one could go there and forget about the world.

Q: Your book has just been awarded a Pulitzer. Who would you thank?

Oh my, the list is so long as anyone who sees the acknowledgements in Sounds Like Crazy. But, I will give you the highlights here—my grandfather, Joe McGrath. My sister, Colleen. My brother, Brendan. My mother. My Godmother, Joan. My best friend, Kirsten. My urban family (all of them). My childhood family (the Kopfers). My cousins (all 14 of them). My aunts and uncles. My cats, Howard, Delmar, and Raphael. My writing community, especially Scott James and Doug Wilkens. Martha Alderson. My editor, Ellan Edwards. My agent, Kevan Lyon .

[SM1]Photo, OnHomeandFamily_Shanahome.jpg

[SM2]Photo, OnHomeandFamily_ShanaWritingOffice.jpg

[SM3]Photo, OnHomeandFamily_ShanaChildhood.jpg. Can caption it—Not a book, holding my second favorite thing next to a book—a cat—while wearing a sweater that represents my favorite activity—my ski team sweater (skiing is the activity).

[SM4]Photo, OnHomeandFamily_Shanasiblings.jpg

[SM5]Photo, BookPromotion_Shana.jpg

[SM6]Photo, OnBookPublishing_ShanaandLiz

Liz is a fan who contacted me and asked if I would join her book club meeting.

[SM7]Image of Monet’s painting.

[SM8]Photo at the lake with the kids…Photo with Poppa.

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Question of the Day

How do you make sales happen for you?

A lot of hard work! I sponsor a lot of on line parties, festivals and contests. Book sales don’t magically happen, believe me. An author has to work hard to earn her readers. And then she has to work hard to keep them by giving them something they’ll enjoy reading. I try hard to make my books worth a reader’s time.

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