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Patti Callahan Henry
BIO
Patti Callahan Henry is the National Bestselling author of six novels with Penguin/NAL ( Losing the Moon, Where the River Runs, When Light Breaks, Betweeen the Tides, The Art of Keeping Secrets, and Driftwood Summer).
Patti is hailed as a fresh new voice in southern fiction. She has been short-listed for the Townsend Prize for Fiction and has been nominated for the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Fiction Novel of the Year. She is a frequent speaker at luncheons, book clubs and women’s groups where she discusses the importance of storytelling and anything else they want to talk about.
Patti grew up as a Minister’s daughter, learning early how storytelling effects our lives. She grew up spending her summers on Cape Cod where she began her love affair with the beach, ocean, tides and nature of the coast. Moving south at the tender age of twelve, she found solace in books and stories. While attending Auburn University, she met a southern boy who later proposed on Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, next to a historic lighthouse overlooking the Sound. After earning her Master’s degree in Child Health, Patti worked as a Clinical Nurse Specialist until her first child was born.
Patti is a full time writer, wife and mother living with her husband and three children outside Atlanta on the Chattahoochee River where she is working on her next novel.
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AUTHOR TALK
 June 5, 2009
Patti Callahan Henry is the bestselling author of six novels, including WHEN LIGHT BREAKS, BETWEEN THE TIDES, THE ART OF KEEPING SECRETS and the newly released DRIFTWOOD SUMMER. In this interview, Henry describes how much of her own memories and experiences she drew upon to write this story about three siblings and attempts to shed light on the complex dynamic of sisterhood. She also explains why --- in addition to themes of familial relationships --- she chose to focus on the financial issues independent bookstores face in this day and age, and shares tips on how we can help support these small businesses.
Question: In your latest novel, DRIFTWOOD SUMMER, you weave a complex tale of the three Sheffield sisters. You, in fact, dedicate this book to your sisters. How much of your own relationship of the Holy Trinity of Sisterhood did you draw from?
Patti Callahan Henry: The Holy Trinity of Sisterhood --- now that’s funny! We definitely weren’t a “holy” anything. I didn’t use any of our exact experiences, but I don’t think a writer can avoid using the implicit emotional memories of sisterhood’s dynamics. I purposefully made each sister very different from who we (Patti, Barbi and Jeannie) are really like as oldest, middle and youngest.
Q: Which of the Sheffield sisters do you most identify with?
PCH: I identify with all of them. I know that sounds like a bit of a cop-out, but I wove so many features into each individual sister that I can’t identify with just one more than the other. I was extremely careful not to model a sister after myself or my other two sisters, and therefore I ended up combining characteristics in a mixed-up version of all of us in all of them.
Q: Just like Riley Sheffield, proprietor of Driftwood Cottage Bookstore, many of our Indie bookstore owners are in over their heads financially. What made you decide to confront this issue?
PCH: This is one of those “synchronicity” things I just can’t explain. It was not a conscious decision on my part to tackle this difficult subject. I began a story in the same place I always do --- a feeling, a lump in my throat, a “what if”. And then I took two of my favorite things --- beaches and bookstores --- and combined them into a story. I knew this was a story about three sisters facing each other, their family, their town and their past and I set them inside a bookstore.
Q: How did you go about the research? Was there a particular bookstore owner that you turned to for insight? Or a couple of them?
PCH: When I was on book tour last year, I used the opportunity to interview bookstore owners, watch the customers, and listen to the great stories that come from bookstores. Depending on the area of the country, every bookstore owner had a particular insight into the business. Some are competing with WalMart and Target and others are battling a sinking economy in their area. Hopefully I combined the majority of the concerns, and also the joys of bookstore ownership! The dynamic that impressed me the most was that these stores are anchors for the town or area in which they thrive. They are gathering places, places where book clubs meet, friends talk and friendships are formed. A sacred place in many ways.
Q: It's not uncommon as a writer to run into a bookstore owner who wants to write their own book someday. Some of them have done just that. Do you ever have a hankering to quit writing and open your own bookstore?
PCH: I have dreamed of owning a bookstore just like The Driftwood Cottage, but I am also realistic enough to know it is just that: a dream. I don’t believe I could run a bookstore and continue to write novels. I’ve watched the commitment and dedication that it takes to keep an independent bookstore afloat, viable and interesting. I think, for now, I’ll channel that passion into my writing.
Q: Describe for us your favorite bookstore from your childhood.
PCH: The library was my favorite bookstore. I spent innumerable hours huddled inside air-conditioned libraries, picking out my books for the week, browsing the shelves, and imagining all the worlds and words contained in the pages.
Q: Riley and her sisters, along with plenty of support from the community, rally to save the bookstore from demise. What are some real things we can do to help our local Indies stay in business?
PCH: This is one of those “take it for granted” issues. I believe many people love their independent bookstores, but don’t understand the problems the bookstore is going through. Readers are very upset when a local Indie shuts down, yet they don’t understand the things they could have done to prevent the bookstore’s demise!
I think the best things we can do to help save our local Indies are to visit them, buy our books from them and spread the word about them. Buy Local: it’s not just a slogan, but a real way to save our Indies and help the local economy thrive. Visit the events that take place at the Indies --- from art classes to author lectures. And spread the word to friends as I don’t believe most people understand the plight of the Indies.
Q: Riley and her sister Maisy are complicated women, who, at times, compete against each other for the Martyr of the Year award. Do you think that's common among sisters? To compete for the "Who's suffered more, me or you” distinction?
PCH: I would like to believe this isn’t true, but I do think there is a battle that is often waged in sister’s actions and words. We all want to believe we are contributing to and helping the family, yet unconscious needs often drive our ways of relating. Yuck.
Q: As the mother of three daughters myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the way you captured the emotional tug between the love and loyalty and jealousy and strife of these sisters. Do you think that strife is inevitable in the kinship of sisterhood?
PCH: Absolutely I believe that strife is inevitable in the kinship of sisterhood. It is how we individuate, how we come to know self and family. We work through problems: talk about them, solve them, joke about them and then hopefully somewhere along the way love each other while becoming individuals of strength.
Q: While the love interest between Riley and Mack is compelling, it is really the love between Riley and her son Brayden that is truly captivating. Riley believes her refusal to identify the father of her son is in everyone's best interest but in the long run it's a selfish and very costly decision, parrticularly for Brayden. We do that a lot though don't we? Convince ourselves that we're protecting others when what we are really doing is protecting our own selfish interests.
PCH: Denial is a powerful force in our lives. I think we all “tell” ourselves tiny untruths (or large lies) to live with our choices and actions. Riley believed, truly believed, that she made the best choice for Brayden and for herself, yet when a new circumstance arose (the grandparents showed up), she understood the selfish motivations behind her choice. I think it is often this way: a new circumstance in life causes us to look at our life in a new way, from a different angle and then our choices change.
Q: Both Riley and Mack are at that age when their parents are facing challenging health issues, yet those illnesses become a gift in an ironic way. You were a nurse in your former life. Did you witness that often? Where the illness became an unexpected gift to a family that had been distant from one another?
PCH: I believe illness is often one of those life circumstances that can break open our heart to new understanding. We can be moving along in our life and believing certain patterns and ways of living are working when an unexpected event causes us to stop, look and become aware. I hate this very fact of life --- that often the very hardest circumstances cause us to grow and change for the better.
Q: What are you working on now?
PCH: It is a mother-daughter story with a bit of a magical twist. And as Forrest Gump says, “that’s all I have to say about that.” For now.
© Copyright 2009, Patti Callahan Henry. All rights reserved.
 Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.
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AUTHOR TALK
 June 6, 2008
In this interview, Patti Callahan Henry --- the bestselling author of LOSING THE MOON, WHERE THE RIVER RUNS, WHEN LIGHT BREAKS and BETWEEN THE TIDES --- discusses how her interest in Greek mythology surfaced in her latest work of fiction, THE ART OF KEEPING SECRETS, and explains how details in the story were modeled after her own relationship with her children. She also debates the pros and cons of sitting down to write a book before its plot is thoroughly outlined, describes how she manages to balance writing full time with caring for her family, and shares details about her next project, DRIFTWOOD SUMMER.
Question: How much of this story did you know before you sat down before that blank computer screen?
Patti Callahan Henry: I knew less about this story than any story I’ve written to date. I only knew that Annabelle believed in her safe (and maybe small) life. She didn’t think she had the problems and issues that others dealt with (like those who wrote into her advice column). I knew that this “image” of her life was going to be dealt a severe blow when they found her husband with another woman. After that, the reader takes the same journey I did to discover who this woman was and why she was on the plane.
Q: With Annabelle Murphy, you've nailed that emotional flux that widows/ers face --- the constant remembering of how things once were while trying to accept the reality of the present. Did you have someone in mind when you developed Annabelle?
PCH: I didn’t have anyone in particular in mind when I wrote about Annabelle. She seemed to be alive and separate from anyone I knew. Her vacillating emotions are individual and universal at the same time. I believe we all look at the past and wonder if it was really as great as we remember. Are some things better as a memory?
Q: I love that scene in which Annabelle forgets to take food to the bible study group. But I wonder, is that a payback scene, written primarily to allow the author a moment to indulge in The Art of Being Snide?
PCH: Snide? Me? Never. Okay, it’s a fair question. Actually I think it was a bit more of the Art of Paying Attention to the ridiculous way women sometimes treat other women who are in pain. There are many people who believe that doing everything “just right,” or never messing up, defines a well-lived life. But sometimes life is messy and on the other side of that mess is a new and better life. Sometimes. And as a preacher’s daughter, yes, it is fun to poke at the absurd rituals like “bringing snack” to bible study.
Q: The interplay between Annabelle and her son Jake is classic southern mama-loves-her-boy stuff. Did you craft Jake after your own sons, or after another man in your life?
PCH: If I crafted this relationship after my relationship with my sons, it was unconscious. As a parent, the love I possess for my children is deeper than anything I’ve experienced, and I used this emotion to imagine how Annabelle would feel about protecting Jake. I put her in the worst possible place --- attempting to let him go as he is now in college and needs to make his own choices, and yet needing him to help her through this storm of unknowing. I believe this combination of needing him and releasing him made things worse for her in the middle of the book, but I wanted her to be stronger at the end of the story.
Q: I learned so much about dolphins and Greek mythology from Sofie. Who did you learn it from?
PCH: I have always loved myths and legends. Almost all my books have some element of myth in them (WHEN LIGHT BREAKS is all about the Claddagh legend). I took what I knew of this particular Greek myth (Ariadne), and then did some research to delve deeper into why the character would hide behind the name and the myth. I believe, as most storytellers do, that myth and legend influence the way we look at life, even if we aren’t consciously aware of it.
Q: One of the things I love most about your stories, Patti, is the same thing I love about Anne River Siddons's tales --- you are always taking the reader around the blind corner to encounter the unexpected. Where did you learn to plot like that?
PCH: My stories take me on the same unexpected twists. I often think I know where I’m going with a character or plot, and suddenly I’m around the corner doing something else and then I have to re-adjust. I’m not a very good outliner, or pre-plotter, although I wish I were so the writing would move faster and smoother. I usually just understand the “what if” and go from there. Of course the downside to this kind of writing is that I have to revise numerous times (please don’t ask how many). Also, my stories often require research, and I find inspiration and plot twists inside the “real”-life research (for example --- in this story, the dolphin research enriched the plot turns). And from a writing-craft position --- the Hero’s Journey offered insight into the natural and inherent human understanding of and need for story structure.
Q: Besides being a bestselling novelist, you are also the mother to three absolutely darling kids with the very busy schedules of dance and baseball and school. How do you make the time to write a bestselling book every year? Who cooks dinner at your house?
PCH: This is the constant struggle --- balance. On some days I have the chapter written, the laundry folded and a hot dinner on the table just in time for the baseball game. Okay, so that is an ideal day that has happened once or twice. On most days, one of those above-mentioned things just doesn’t get done. I’ve had my dark moments of wondering if I can do it (write a book) again, and bright moments when I know I can. I return again and again to my belief in two things: 1. Writing is a precious gift from God; it is easier to keep writing than to quit, and 2. there is power in a well-told story. My teenage daughter is home sick today, so the chapter didn’t get written because we were at the doctor. I try very hard to step back and look at the larger tapestry and not get bogged down in the panic of perfection. All of this --- family, kids, friends, life and writing --- are gifts and I try to embrace them all and not turn them into a burden of busyness.
Q: Who are the people who've mentored you in this art of writing?
PCH: Over the past 10 years, my mentors have changed from authors I’ve never met to dear friends and confidantes. Many whom I count as mentors, I’ve never met. In the beginning, the mentors were the authors who wrote about the art of writing and made me believe in its gift: Anne Lamott; Julia Cameron; Stephen King; C.S. Lewis; George McDonald; blessed Madeleine L’Engle. Then after I was published, I began to meet and befriend some of the most inspirational and beautiful people I’ve ever known --- other authors. My heart flew wide open when I found the world where other people cared as much about books, words and stories as I did.
Q: My most favorite truth from the story is when Mrs. Thurgood tells Annabelle that our conclusions and assumptions are like "poorly packed luggage --- falling apart and needing to be redone as we journey through life." Is this your line or did you borrow that line from somebody?
PCH: No borrowing allowed. Thank you for the compliment. Sometimes the characters teach me something. When Mrs. Thurgood said this, I laughed. And therein lies the mystery of writing --- sometimes, on a very good day, the characters know more than we do.
Q: Okay. No secrets now. What are you working on next?
PCH: The book is tentatively called DRIFTWOOD SUMMER. It is about a family, a summer-resort town and a bookstore. The novel is narrated by three sisters. When their mother falls after her evening martini and breaks her hip, the sisters -- two who are estranged over a man they both loved --- must come together to run the family bookstore called The Driftwood Cottage. The cottage is turning 200 years old, and a large anniversary celebration for the small town and the cottage have been planned. Like driftwood washed ashore, time has changed many things. During this celebration, many people from the past return, including the man whom the two oldest sisters once loved. Secrets are revealed, wounds are healed and both the town and the sisters will be changed forever.
© Copyright 2008, Patti Callahan Henry. All rights reserved.
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INTERVIEW
 May 12, 2006
Bookreporter.com contributing writer Shannon McKenna interviewed Patti Callahan Henry, author of LOSING THE MOON, WHERE THE RIVER RUNS, and the newly released WHEN LIGHT BREAKS. In this interview, Henry characterizes writing a novel as an instinctual journey with no guarantees, and explains the basis for her love and belief in the power of storytelling. She also describes her affinity for the South Carolina Lowcountry and conveys what she hopes readers will take away from her books.
Bookreporter.com: What first sparked the idea for the storyline of WHEN LIGHT BREAKS?
Patti Callahan Henry: After the publication of my first novel, I took a long, hard look at why I was writing. I wanted to know what drove me to the page every day and I discovered that a large part of the reason I write is because I believe in the power of story. So, I decided that this novel would be about exactly the reason I write: the power of story. I wanted one woman’s story and life to change or influence another woman’s life in a positive direction. I believe the heart and mind communicate through reason and intellect, but the heart communicates through story.
BRC: Kara becomes intrigued with the story Maeve tells her about the boy she loved and lost in Ireland, which Kara later finds out is a blending of truth and legend. What appealed to you about incorporating aspects of Irish history and culture into the story?
PCH: The Irish culture is incredibly rich in myth and legend. Because this novel was about the ability of story to change a life, I wanted to blur the line between story and literal life, and the rich storytelling culture of Ireland was a perfect fit. One of the many themes in Irish legend is the presence of the sacred in ordinary daily life, and this is what I wanted to convey to, and for Kara through an Irish storyteller.
BRC: Kara works for the PGA TOUR and is engaged to a professional golfer, and sprinkled throughout the story are references to the game. Do you golf? If not, how did you research the aspects you needed to include in the story?
PCH: I don't golf, but my husband is an avid golfer as are both my sons. I live some of the golf life with my boys, and for the remainder, I convinced an employee of the PGA TOUR to tell me about her job. I went on site to the PGA TOUR East Lake Tournament and interviewed the amazing people who run these tournaments. Then, of course, I had my husband read the novel and make sure I didn't make a huge mistake (like knowing the difference between a birdie and a bogey.)
BRC: Amateur photographer Kara says that one of the reasons she likes to take pictures is “to keep the memories in order.” Are you a photography buff? Are your personal photo albums organized?
PCH: I am only a photography buff in my admiration of those who can take that great picture that captures a moment in time. One of my dearest friends is an incredibly gifted photographer, and I have always envied and admired this talent. I collect photographs of both my family life and particular photographs that evoke emotion, whether that be a scene or a person. My personal photo albums organized? Not so much --- but it is a goal. Really, it is.
BRC: Do you have a favorite scene in WHEN LIGHT BREAKS? How does this particular scene illuminate the story?
PCH: WHEN LIGHT BREAKS was such a joy to write that I have a very hard time choosing a particular scene that I just love. But if forced --- one of my favorites is the first time Kara and Maeve meet. I love the hints and clues Maeve drops into Kara’s life so the reader knows something good is coming --- something life changing that even Kara cannot see. I also adore the scene where Kara and Jack see each other after fifteen years.
BRC: In WHEN LIGHT BREAKS Maeve’s granddaughter remarks about her grandmother, “She loves to tell stories. She believes they guide and define our lives.” Do you believe stories have the power to guide and define people’s lives?
PCH: I do believe story (or good story) has the power to guide and define our lives. The power of story lies within its myriad ways to change us, or our outlook.
BRC: WHEN LIGHT BREAKS is set in the South Carolina Lowcountry, as were your previous novels. What is it about this setting that makes for great storytelling? What do you think appeals to readers about Southern settings?
PCH: I am drawn to this area for its raw, natural, unspoiled beauty. In a world of schedules, cell phones, Internet, and material acquisition, the Lowcountry reminds me of true beauty, true calm. It is a place where my spirits seem to rest and the family slows down. It is a lush, wild place where characters and readers can settle into a good story.
BRC: When did your affinity for storytelling begin? What made you take that initial leap and begin writing your first novel?
PCH: I grew up with my nose in a book and have always been fascinated with beautifully told stories. I also grew up as a preacher’s daughter, which is nothing more than listening to the same truth being told over and over in story. I slowly came to realize the power was not in the lecture, but the well-told story. My daughter is the one who reminded me I wanted to write novels. When she was six years old she told me she wanted to be a writer of books and this spurned me on to my original childhood dream.
BRC: Reviewers have compared your novels to the works of Anne Rivers Siddons, Pat Conroy, Mary Alice Monroe, and Patricia Gaffney. What is it like to join the ranks of such illustrious writers?
PCH: I am humbled and grateful to be compared to such outstanding writers. They are masters at crafting sentences rich in description and meaning. I can only hope that the comparisons arise from the deeper, shared truths we each explore in our novels. Or I can only hope they aren't offended.
BRC: Why do you think your books have struck such a chord with readers? WHEN LIGHT BREAKS is a work of fiction meant to entertain, but is there something more you hope readers will take away from the book?
PCH: Yes, of course I always hope that readers take away something more from my work. What is amazing to me is that each reader will take something different from each novel I've written. I hope the character's journey touches the reader's heart, makes them look at their own heart's desires, and then they can ask themselves what they really want in life aside from other's expectations. I also hope that readers take whatever they might need from the novel. I love when a reader is struck by a theme or meaning that I, even as the writer, hadn't realized was deep inside the story.
BRC: With the publication of WHEN LIGHT BREAKS, you now have three novels to your credit. Has the process evolved or changed for you in any way with the writing of each subsequent book?
PCH: The process of writing each novel has not changed that much since my first novel. I once heard that writers must always be willing to become beginners over and over again. And this is true. With each novel, I must start over, begin again. Somehow, between each novel, I forget how to write a book, but I start the same way each time: with a theme or “what if” and then watch the story evolve from there. I wish I had a scientific method, a more sure way to write, but it is just a step by step, word by word, page by page journey where I don't always see what is around the corner and there are no guarantees I am headed in the right direction.
BRC: WHEN LIGHT BREAKS will make for a terrific literary summer escape. What books will you be reading this summer?
PCH: SAVANNAH BREEZE by Mary Kay Andrews; FULL OF GRACE by Dorothea Benton Frank; TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee (I want to reread this book before I read her new biography); THE BEACH HOUSE by Mary Alice Monroe (I want to reread this before the sequel, SWIMMING LESSONS, is released next year); and then my just-finished rough draft of BETWEEN THE TIDES so I can clean it up and send it off to the presses.
BRC: What are you working on now, and when can readers expect to see it?
PCH: I am finishing a book called BETWEEN THE TIDES. It is a novel I wrote four years ago and have now come back to revisit and rewrite. It is the story of 35-year-old Catherine Leary. When her Southern Literature Professor Father passes away, he has one request for his only child: to scatter his ashes in the only site Catherine never wants to see again --- the Seaboro River in South Carolina, a place she believes she forced her family to leave when she was 12 years old. Now, a year after her Dad's death, Catherine has still not fulfilled his last wish, but when her Dad's colleague hints that her dad often returned to this town of her childhood, she finally returns to Seaboro on a poignant journey full of family secrets, lasting love and self-discovery as she uncovers the true reason her family left their beloved Lowcountry town. Readers can expect to see it on the shelves in May 2007.
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