Q&A with 2012 Featured Author Sarah McCoy
Sarah McCoy is the author of “The Baker’s Daughter” and “The Time It Snowed In Puerto Rico.” “The Baker’s Daughter” was praised as a “beautiful heart-breaking gem of a novel” by Tatiana de Rosnay and a “thoughtful reading experience indeed” by Chris Bohjalian. It is a Doubleday/Literary Guild Book Club selection. Sarah has taught writing at Old Dominion University and at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Where do you find inspiration?
I’m not sure I ever find inspiration so much as it finds me, usually when I’m least expecting it. What I’ve become acutely aware is that inspiration is perpetually wooing. It trails after us whispering, “Hey, stop a minute—look here—do you see me?” It’s a hard lesson, but I’m learning how to quiet the day-to-day buzz in my mind and listen, heed its murmurs and pay attention to the quiet sparks that could ignite a bonfire.
What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
A young El Paso reporter recently asked me this very question. I told her the process of becoming an author is much like developing foot callosity in the summertime. You’ve got to walk the rocks and hot sands every day. At the beginning, your toes will get torn up; your skin will blister; you’ll cry and soak your pain away; but by the end, you’ll be able to climb the cliffs barefoot.
What’s your favorite opening line from a book?
Can it be a play? If so, I’d say the first line of Romeo and Juliet with stage directions. It’s one of the most powerful openings of all time. When I read it, I imagine multiple voices reciting in unison, projecting the words into a darkened proscenium and resonating the air with story force.
“[Enter the Chorus] Chorus: Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.”
Oh, Billy Shakespeare, no matter how many times I read, you give me chills.
What book has inspired or affected you in some way?
I’ve been deeply affected by many books in vastly different ways. Plucking a single one would be like pulling a strand of my hair and saying it’s a representation of my whole head! At best, it could only provide a glimmer of the rest. So I’ll pick the book and character that influenced my decision to become a writer since the time I could first hold a pencil. “Anne of Green Gables” by Lucy Maud Montgomery. There is no one like Anne Shirley. She is nonpareil in my mind.
If you could sit down at dinner with three other authors, living or dead, which three authors would you choose, and why?
Based on my answer above, Lucy Maud Montgomery, most certainly. I’d offer her tea and plum pudding, minus the mouse.
Maya Angelou. I’d sit at her feet and eat the crumbs dropped from her plate. She’s the epitome of grace and love, and her stories are more than words. They are divine gifts. If I were ever granted the serendipity of her company, I’d know the angels had part in it.
To round out my dream dinner companions, I’d love to sup with Ann Patchett. Not only is her prose crackerjack brilliant, her stories are the kind you read and discover more about yourself and what it means to be human. Those are my favorite to read and write. If that weren’t enough to make her a superstar, Ann is a fierce champion for the literary community. She opened her own bookstore—now that takes chutzpah! I’d love to shake her hand and thank her for showing women writers that we can do it all.