The Sex Pistols and free Anchor Steam: my interview with author Martha O'Connor
Martha O'Connor's new novel, The Bitch Posse just came out.

What people are saying:

"Astonishing and truly remarkable ... tough, subtle, tense, authentic and very beautiful. If this isn't really Alice Sebold, Donna Tartt or Barbara Vine writing under a pseudonym, then Martha O'Connor is a huge new talent who is already about as good as it gets."

- Lee Child, international bestselling author of The Enemy

"The Bitch Posse is dark, poignant, and only too believable. Rennie, Cherry, and Amy are strivers at school by day and connivers by night. Self-styled rebels without a clue, they are bound together in friendship. Little do they realize that there will come a day when their naïve passions will lead them to a vicious mishap, blood that will stay on their hands for the rest of their lives. This is a book that will walk alongside you, and haunt your dreams, long after you turn the last page."

- Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean and A Theory of Relativity

About the book:

Novelist Martha O'Connor makes a remarkable debut with The Bitch Posse (St. Martin's Press; May 12, 2005), the dark and thrilling story of three young women, their passionate friendship, and the terrible secret that inextricably binds them together.

With bold and unflinching language, O'Connor weaves past and present from the perspectives of three best friends, Rennie, Amy, and Cherry -- as rebellious teens and then as grown women in their mid-30's coping with the repercussions of their actions. As high school seniors, the girls form a tight circle of friends –- which they name the Bitch Posse –- in order to lash out against tumultuous situations in their lives. But as steadfast as their friendship is, it's not enough to protect the girls from circumstances that cause all three of their lives to spiral out of control. Rennie has a doomed affair with her married drama teacher, which results in her bearing the psychic weight of an abortion and a blighted love. Amy's parents think their daughter has thrown over her bad-news friends, and upon learning their daughter has become a drug and alcohol addict (not unlike themselves) they turn their backs on her. Cherry's mother finds solace in cocaine, then heroin, leaving her daughter to target her rage at someone, anyone, over whom she has control.

Flash-forward to the present, where one girl is now a wife and mother-to-be, trying to uphold a life of normalcy for herself and her family. One is a writer with a sexual addiction that sucks her into destructive relationships. And one is incarcerated in a mental hospital –- and has been since one fateful night fifteen years ago, when a betrayal led them to commit a crime that profoundly changed their destinies.

Fascinated by the struggle between good and evil within the human spirit, Martha O'Connor delves into the dark side of human nature, the intensity of female friendship, and the possibilities of redemption in The Bitch Posse. Emotionally raw, upsetting, and provocative, this is the introduction of a huge new talent and will leave readers reeling this season. As Edmund White says, "The Bitch Posse is a debut worthy of Joyce Carol Oates."

My questions:

1. Have you always wanted to be a novelist? Yes, I have, except for a brief period in my life when I wanted to run away to Portland and become a hairdresser.

2. Is this your first book? If not, what else have you written? I have written four other unpublished novels. The first was the worst fantasy novel ever written. My grandmother is holding onto it in order to blackmail me in the future. (Smart gal!) The second was a young adult novel, kinda fun to write, got some attention from agents, but not quite there. The third was a coming-of-age novel about a girl going to college. Same story. The fourth was a mystery, which got me an AAR agent and was submitted all over New York, with a lot of nice comments but no offer. And now The Bitch Posse, which I handed over to a DIFFERENT agent, which sold in four days.

3. What inspired you to write this book? I think I was just ready to write this book. I had a very close friendship in high school, but I didn't set out to write about it. The three girls in this book simply bound and gagged me and forced me to tell their story. They really wouldn't shut up until I was done.

4. What do you do to feel inspired/motivated in order to write? That feeling of the butt in the chair and the prospect of unending boredom unless I type some words to entertain myself always seem to do it.

5. What are you reading now? I am reading a British novel called Sundowners by Leslie Lokko. It was accidentally sent to me by my British publisher and they didn't make me send it back. I'm really enjoying it so far; it's a
wonderfully fun epic about four best friends, one of whom is a diamond heiress in South Africa. I think it did really well over there; I don't know if it is available here.

6. What are some of your favorite books?

Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
Memoirs by Pablo Neruda
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby, Jr
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

7. What else do you do besides writing (i.e. do you have a day job)? I am a mom, and also a mom to a child with diabetes. In addition to all my regular "mom" stuff, I am involved in education, advocacy and fundraising for this chronic, lifethreatening disease. That pretty well fills my time!

8. Where do you live? I live in Marin County, CA.

9. How does where you live impact (help/hurt) your writing? I set much of my novel in Mill Valley, CA. I think my location is a wonderful help as I was able to include many natural landmarks of the San Francisco Bay Area. I love where I live and I'll bet it does show in my work.

10. What words of wisdom would you impart to an aspiring novelist? If you sit your butt in your chair and do it, you're ahead of 90% of the competition. Most people who say they're going to write a novel never do it.

Also, expect rejection. Savor it. Hopefully, at some point you will get so pissed off that you will just not care anymore and then, THEN you'll be able to write something in order to please NO ONE but yourself. That's what happened to me. That is the secret to writing.

[Martha - I completely agree! RIGHT ON! Very well said.]

11. What is your favorite word? Seldom.

12. What is your least favorite word? Microsoft.

13. What turns you on? Complete and utter attention to my needs, physical, emotional and spiritual.

14. What turns you off? People who think they know everything.

15. What sound do you love? Children laughing.

16. What sound do you hate? A car alarm continually going off.

17. What is your favorite curse word? Fuck.

18. What profession other than yours would you like to attempt? Pediatric Endocrinologist.

19. What profession would you not like to participate in? Anything related to the stock market.

20. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? The party's this way, and the Sex Pistols are headlining! Free Anchor Steams to your left.

Tour Dates for Martha O'Connor:

May 13, Friday @ 7 p.m.
Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista
Corte Madera, CA 94925
415-927-0960

May 15, Sunday @ 4 p.m
Barnes & Noble # 2709
10850 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310-475-3914

May 17, Tuesday @ 7 p.m.
M is for Mystery
86 E Third Ave.
San Mateo, CA 94401
650-401-8077

May 19, Thursday @ 7 p.m.
Barbara's Bookstore
1100 Lake Street
Oak Park, IL 60301
708.848.9140

May 20th, Friday @ 12pm
Bookstall
811 Elm Street
Winnetka, IL 60093
847-446-8880

May 24, Tuesday @ 7 p.m.
A Clean Well-Lighted Place
601 Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-931-9248

May 25, Wednesday @ 7:30 p.m
Cody's
2454 Telegraph Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94704
510-845-2852 or 510-845-0837

Also, The Bitch Posse has been nominated for Nerve.com's Henry Miller Award for best literary sex scene. It will be excerpted there during the month of May. Go and vote for Martha! (PS: very very dirty :-P)

Buy The Bitch Posse on Amazon

Visit Martha's website