Hi, everyone! Welcome to another week of Bookmarked.
I hope everybody is enjoying the month of June so far. We're already inching toward July, which I can't believe!
Today, I have a special Q&A to share with you all. I was able to chat with the very creative and talented author and artist, Cynn Chadwick.
Cynn is the author of The Cat Rising Series, which consists of Cat Rising, Girls With Hammers, and Babies, Bikes, and Broads, as well as novels Cutting Loose; Angels and Manners; As The Table Turns; That's Karma, Baby; Things That Women Do; and most recently, The Incorrigible Rogue.
She is also an artist, and her paintings have been featured in many galleries and festivals.
To learn more about Cynn and her many achievements, both as an author and as an artist, you can visit her website here. You can also find links to all of her books on her website.
Cynn's JCP-published novel, Things That Women Do, is available through JCP's website here, as well as through Cynn's website.
In Things That Women Do, after Anna Shields receives an invitation from her estranged Aunt Lydia, she flies to Tennessee to find a number of older women --Tasha, Sadie, and Chloe -- also living on Lydia's farm. Losing power during a blizzard, the women share dark and startling secrets. Skating between past and present, they reveal frighteningly desperate things that they have done. Anna begins to realize, to her shock, that these things are connected to her own past and become key to her future.
This is a great novel full of twists and turns, and Cynn's creativity and talent really shines through. I highly recommend purchasing a copy for yourself!
Now, without further ado, please enjoy the following Q&A with Cynn, and be sure to listen to our podcast this Friday, because there will be a full-length interview with Cynn you won't want to miss.
BOOKMARKED: What initially inspired you to become a writer?
CYNN CHADWICK: I come from a family of story-lovers and tellers, voracious readers, super-fans of certain authors, and dwellers in libraries and bookshops, so what turned me into a writer wasn't so much inspiration but a sort of extension of what my family loved to share -- reading, stories, books, libraries, and authors. Writing stories didn't seem much of a stretch.
Tell me all about your art! How did you get into painting, and what do you love about expressing yourself that way?
Ha! Back in my early 40s, an artist friend was visiting and brought her paints. I was watching, when she handed me a brush and said, "Paint something!" I argued that, "I am a professionally trained writer and can't possibly paint!" But I had a little snow village, and I started there. I love architecture and colors and the process. And I like that what comes out of my head is very cartoon-y.
Since then, I've done art shows, galleries, and festivals. And now, I try different mediums. I burn wood plaques, draw on tile, and am messing with mahogany and glass lately. So, art is very freeing. No expectations. Writing is a whole other ball of wax, many expectations, and can sometimes hurt the brain, but it is my devotion, not art. Weird, huh?
How do you think writing and being an author intersects with your art and being a painter?
I think they only actually intersect as creative outlets, because I only view myself as an author who happens to paint, not an artist who happens to write, if that makes sense. Writing is my "Habit of Being," to quote Flannery O'Connor.
I know that JCP published your novel, "Things That Women Do" in 2019, but is that your most recent work?
My most recent novel is actually a historical fiction work titled "The Incorrigible Rogue."
"Things That Women Do" precedes this one, and its title could be the thesis of all of my stories, as most of my books are about the situations of women and how we gain and maintain power living under a patriarchy.
What inspired the story for "Things That Women Do"?
I'd been thinking about a much earlier time in my life when I was part of a group of women into Goddess spirituality; you know, gathering under the moon, calling the four corners, beating drums, dancing naked around a fire... that kind of thing. I'd lost contact with everyone over the years. But I had heard about a woman of that time who'd committed suicide as an act of revenge by leaving her cheating husband and his mistress with a bunch of kids. The note read, "Good luck!"
And it sort of made me consider the "things that women do" for control, power, survival, and revenge. Next thing, suddenly, I'm flooded with the stories of... well, the things that women do!
What do you hope people take away from reading this novel?
As with all my stories, I hope my readers see pieces of themselves, fall in love, and come away feeling a bit more empowered for having come along on the journey.
What are you reading right now?
Oh, I'm always in a book, but lately I have been catching up on missed opportunities, so I've recently finished "Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt, "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles, and "The Four Winds" by Kristin Hannah. All very different, but equally wonderful.
Who are your favorite authors? Favorite novels?
Oh! So too many! I adore Stephen King! Also, Tana French, Liane Moriarty, Kate Morton, Barbara Kingsolver, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Maggie O'Farrell, Kate Atkinson, Catherine Cookson... This is a never-ending list.
What would you like to say to your many fans and supporters over the years?
So many thank you's, gratitude, and appreciation to those for buying, reading, enjoying, lending, and recommending my books over this near quarter of a century! Good lord!
I have loved meeting folks who've come out to readings, conferences, and festivals. What a joy to release my latest, "The Incorrigible Rogue," last month in the UK! My career has included meeting the best of folks. I invite anyone who reads my works for your book club to contact me. I'd be delighted to Zoom in for a chat, so hit me up! And on behalf of all authors, especially if you're reading our works for your book clubs, buy the book. I love libraries, but if our stories are part of the excuse -- I mean entertainment -- to gather with girlfriends to drink wine and tell tales, we should be treated like the wine: bought and consumed!
And if you really want to support us, recommend and review. Leave stars! It matters!
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Thank you again, Cynn, for a fantastic conversation! Please check out Cynn's website, purchase her books, and listen to her podcast interview this Friday. You won't regret it!
And thank you to our loyal readers, who continuously support this blog (and partnering podcast).
Have a great rest of your week!
Allison Chudina
Magazine Content Editor & Editorial Assistant
Jan-Carol Publishing, Inc.
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