How Mare Began
Eileen said, “Mine’s the oldest, the one who mothers them all,” and Krissie said, “I’ll take the middle sister, the peacemaker,” and left me with the youngest sister, the bratty rebel, so I said, “Okay, I’ll write against type,” and they threw things at me in e-mail.
So basically, I just started to write and there was Mare, sitting with her feet up at the breakfast table, defying Dee and soothing Lizzie and levitating muffins and going her own way. I’d never written a twenty-something heroine before, but I loved Mare from the minute I started typing her. She’s such a brat, but she has such a good strong heart, and she’s such a warrior, both with and for her sisters. She isn’t sure what she wants at the start of the story, but she’s going to fight for it anyway. She just has so much bounce. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun writing anybody before. Reality holds no interest for Mare, she just charges right through it, talking a mile a minute with her cat, Pywackt, by her side (she got Py’s collar used at Goodwill,and the letter set that came with it already had all the e’s used up). I think she’s at her best at Value Video!! where she is technically assistant manager but clearly mistress of all she surveys, even when a vice president named Jude comes to town and tries to rattle her cage. “I get the feeling you don’t respond well to authority,” he tells her. “Authority has never responded well to me,” she says and goes on to browbeat him to his knees, leading him to offer to fire the present manager and give her the job. She turns him down flat:
“No, no, no, no.” Mare took another step back and bumped into the counter. “We need William here. He’s the voice of reason. He does math. I refuse to be manager. Go back in that office and tell William he still has a job.”
Jude’s smile faded. “Miss O’Brien. May I call you Mare?”
Mare repressed an exasperated sigh. “Sure, Jude.”
“Mare, I realized that some women have a fear of success–”
“I’m not afraid of success. I embrace success. Success and I are practically twin souls. I just don’t want to manage a video store.”
I loved Mare so much that it took me awhile to see her faults–probably because she’s a little bit like me and I have NO faults–but she takes quite a beating during the story because of them. Traditionally she should emerge from it all a sadder but wiser woman, but since she’s Mare, she just emerges wiser, as bouncy as ever, with a lover by her side and the whole world before her. Have I mentioned that I just love Mare?
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“I just don’t want to manage a video store.”
I like Mare already. I LOVE that attitude. Are you sure we have to wait until summer? Because I think I could use this book now.
And we already love Mare and will love her more when we read the book! She sounds like a woman we would all enjoy being, too! Or would love having been, or something.
I definitately could use that book now.
I’m in the reading doldrums and need somethin to liven the spirits.
I can hardly wait until this book comes out - it sounds like sooo much fun!!
Do we really have to wait? Aren’t there some ARCs lying around?????
Oh Mare sounds absolutely DIVINE. I just can’t wait to read this book!
Not yet. You’re actually getting the earliest sneak peeks.
well, keep sending them our way.
Mare kicks ass.
Dee objects to that definition. The only ass involved is Dee’s, of which Mare is a pain in…..
But don’t anybody else say that. As we Irish women know, I can say whatever I want about my family, but don’t you dare try.
Eileen, I keep telling you, you’re not Dee.
“The only ass involved is Dee’s, of which Mare is a pain in…..”
i don’t know, does lizzie feel the same way too? because then i should make it plural…
No, Lizzie never gets into fights. And Jen, we both know that it got a bit fuzzy between us and our characters more than once.
You know, nobody ever called me Mare that I can remember.
But we called you “Dee” and Krissie “Lizzie” more than once.
Probably because I’m not cool enough to be Mare. Sigh.
Of course “Dee” and “Eileen” sound alike and “Lizzie” and “Krissie” are practically the same word. That probably helped.
I’ll try to wait patiently for those sneak peeks. Its going to be hard though. When it comes to books I need my fix pretty frequently.