Interview with Martha O'Connor

Jacqueline Morse Kessler © 2005

Wild Child Publishing.com © 2005

When I first read the opening page of Martha O'Connor's The Bitch Posse, I knew I was onto something daring. "Warning," the introduction states, "You Have Now Entered a Chick-Lit-Free Zone."

And I proceeded to read a fascinating story that grabbed my attention and refused to let go. It's not a pretty story by any stretch; the writing is so powerful that at times it's brutal. The three main characters aren't just flawed; they're tragic, and so dark that they may leave some readers uncomfortable. But The Bitch Posse isn't about comfort. It's an uncompromising story about the incessant desire to escape the constraints of the mundane.

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview Martha, who was very happy to discuss the writing process behind The Bitch Posse, and why we should "write like no one is watching."

WCP: First, I want to thank you not only for agreeing to this interview, but for writing The Bitch Posse, which has quickly become one of my favorite books of all time. It sits on my bookshelf next to my Neil Gaiman section (or it would, if my mother will ever return it to me). TBP should be required reading. Major kudos, Martha! Okay, end gush.

MO'C: It's an honor to be interviewed, Jackie, and I'm so glad you enjoyed the book.

WCP: Your voice in the book is so passionate that it's almost brutal, with the boundary between love and hate blurring almost into nonexistence. How did you find that voice?

MO'C: I realize it sounds odd, but this novel really burst out of my subconscious and onto the page. I often compare it to being assaulted in a dark alley. That's really what the characters did! They wouldn't let me go until I had told their story.

WCP: Writing in the present tense is sometimes considered a no-no, and is always a risky option. You write it masterfully, in two different "present" times: 1988 and 2003. Why did you choose the present tense instead of the past tense?

MO'C: The story just "wanted" to be told in the present tense. I went back at one point and tried to change the 1988 sections into past tense, but it just didn't feel right. So I changed it back.

WCP: Why is the 1988 story in first-person present, and the 2003 story in third-person present?

MO'C: Teenagers live their life so "in the moment," [first-person] present tense is a natural choice. [But in the 2003 segment] the girls (now women) are really distant from their identities. They've been running and hiding from themselves for so long, they're very disconnected from who they are. So the third person sort of amplifies that quality of the characters.

WCP: The interweaving of six separate POVs--that of three teenage girls and the women these girls become--speaks of narrative skill to such degree that I'm too awed to be jealous. Did you plan the climax of the book--that pivotal point that the 1988 story builds to and the 2003 story springs from--ahead of time?

MO'C: I knew all along the book would culminate in a violent act. But I wasn't sure what that act would be. (And I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it!) As I neared the final six chapters, though, I knew what had to happen. So I outlined those six chapters in advance, and that is actually the only section of the book where I wrote the scenes chronologically and not as they appear in the book. That final scene is so intense I kept losing the flavor when I jumped forward to 2003!

WCP: Did your characters ever wrestle the story away from you and take it in their own direction?

MO'C: The girls just dragged me along for all their adventures. They pulled me into some very dark corners indeed. I enjoyed the ride, but it was exhausting!

WCP: Is this the book you intended to write?

MO'C: Not at all. I intended to, and in fact did, write a chick-lit mystery, which was never published. I was then told to write another one, so my then-agent could try to sell it. Well, I sat down, and that isn't what happened at all. After I showed 50 pages of The Bitch Posse to that agent, she said it would never sell and I shouldn't continue writing it because no one would ever want to read it.

Well, I wanted to find out what happened! So I threw the censors out the window and let the girls drag me along for their wild journey. In the end, what that former agent of mine said to me what the best thing that could've happened, because it freed me to write the book I truly needed to (rather than wanted to).

WCP: Which of your Bitch Posse goddesses can you relate with the most?

MO'C: There's some of me in each character. Like me, Rennie is a writer and lives in Marin (although she's a good deal more fucked up than I am!). Cherry, too, is a creative person and loves to care for others, as I do. And Amy's a mother. Giving birth changes your life forever, because you're no longer living only for yourself, but for someone else.

WCP: The very opening of your book certainly strikes the unforgiving, in-your-face attitude of the entire story. When did you write the "chick-lit-free zone" intro, before or after the rest of the book?

MO'C: After I wrote the novel, I looked at it and said, "Wow. There ought to be a warning on this thing." So I wrote the opening as a warning to any unsuspecting readers. I really felt I was doing a service to readers--that they'd know to shut the novel if they were looking for something else. And the first scene was also written as a baptism by fire of sorts. If the reader could make it through the opening pages, he or she would have no trouble with the rest of the book.

WCP: You wound up switching agents along the way. Does an author need an agent to be successful?

MO'C: I recommend that anyone who would like to be published by a traditional, royalty-paying house to get a literary agent. However, I do know some writers who have gotten book deals on their own with smaller publishers such as Coffee House and MacAdam/Cage. There is more than one way to build a career. I still think an agent is the way to go, though.

WCP: Could you enlighten us about the editing process?

MO'C: It never ends! This book has been rewritten start to finish at least a dozen times, and the last pages were rewritten over twenty times.

WCP: What can you tell us about book promotion? What did you do to generate such a buzz?

MO'C: Although St. Martin's provided publicity support, I used part of my advance to hire an independent publicist. I think it was the wisest money I ever spent. As a mother, I had a hard time doing the book tour, although I did do it. I have appearances coming up locally, even now, so long after the book's publication. Those appearances I pretty much was invited to be a part of and hammered out the details myself, since the official publicity campaign is finished. It's really hard to say no to an appearance! I wish I could just lock myself in a garrett and write, but even people who previously eschewed the public eye, like Don DeLillo, are doing appearances now. It's part of the gig.

WCP: What have you learned from The Bitch Posse, either from the book itself or from the process behind getting the book published and promoted?

MO'C: Write like no one is watching.

WCP: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

MO'C: See above.

WCP: Enquiring minds want to know. Will your next book also begin with a sex scene?

MO'C: I don't think so, but there are sex scenes in it....

WCP: Finally...are you a dog person or a cat person?

MO'C: A dog person!