New York Orphan
by
Rosemary J. Kind
GENRE: Historical
Fiction
BLURB:
From fleeing the Irish Potato Famine, to losing his parents on
the ship to New York, seven-year-old Daniel Flynn knows about adversity. As
Daniel sings the songs of home to earn pennies for food, pick-pocket Thomas
Reilly becomes his ally and friend, until he too is cast out onto the street.
A destitute refugee in a foreign land, Daniel, together with Thomas and his sister Molly, are swept up by the Orphan Train Movement to find better lives with families across America. For Daniel will the dream prove elusive?
How strong are bonds of loyalty when everything is at stake?
Excerpt:
At
the end of the block, the buildings clambered over the tentacle-like roots of a
massive tree, its shape and leaves quite different to the ones he knew back
home. Leaning against the trunk, with his knees pulled up to his body, sat Tom.
Daniel felt awkward approaching him. He didn’t know what to say. He went and
sat beside him and began stripping the bark from a twig he found lying on the
ground.
“We’ll
be thrown out when she dies.” Tom drew the back of his sleeve across his face.
“She’ll
get better.” Daniel spoke more in hope than certainty.
“You’ve
lived in Ireland all your life and you’re still an optimist? Welcome to
reality. Folks don’t get better, they die. Or they leave you. Don’t you want to
know where me da is? That drunken eejit. He works the railroads some place.
Said he’d send money back for us. Said he’d send for us to join him. He’s out
there drinking hisself silly, while Mammy lies here dying.”
Daniel
felt a flood of anger, not at Tom’s absent father but at his self-pity. “You don’t
think I knows what it’s like? I’d lost everything.” His nostrils flared as he
spoke. “I found you and Molly, that’s my hope. I ain’t got no one but yous.”
Feeling the overwhelming urge to cry, but desperate not to show his weakness,
he instead punched Tom’s arm.
Tom
punched him back and before long they were sprawling in the dust, each trying
to pummel their frustration out on the other, until they eventually fell
laughing in a heap. They were hardly more filthy and tattered than when they
began.
Interview with Rosemary J. Kind
As a
writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
Oh that’s a tough call. My dog Wilma is
probably the closest these days. She’s my go everywhere girl and her soulful
eyes are enough to inspire me on the darkest of days. It used to be my eldest
dog, Alfie, but he has opted out of many things in the last few years as he has
dementia.
How
many hours a day do you put into your writing?
Probably 6 – 8 but that includes weekends
too. Not all of it is the writing itself. The time covers everything from
writing to editing and also promoting my work and engaging with readers.
Do you read
your book reviews? If yes, do they affect what you write in the future?
I’m sure it’s not always good for
me, but yes I do read reviews. I don’t think any written reviews have shaped
what I go on to write but reader comments at book groups and forums certainly
have. In the series I’m writing at the moment, having readers say ‘I really
need to know what happens to X or Y character’ has made me ensure that the
stories of those characters have been covered.
Do you
leave hidden messages in your books that only a few people will find?
No hidden messages, but there are
places that those who have known me a very long time might recognize. In one of
my novels ‘The Appearance of truth’ the lead character goes on a walk around
her childhood haunts and visits places which were my childhood. I’ve moved
their location, but I could take you to the real places that make up that tour.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in New York Orphan?
Daniel Flynn is seven-years old
when he arrives on the dock of New York as an orphan. He is a really good-natured
boy who embraces so many of the values he’s learned from his family. His
parents died on the ship from Ireland to America forcing Daniel to grow up very
quickly. At times he’s too nice for his own good, which leaves him vulnerable.
Thomas and Molly Reilly are brother
and sister. They too hail from Ireland and now live with their mother in a slum
in New York. As the book progresses we see Thomas feeling the need to rely on
no one but himself as he has lost so many of the people he might have relied
on. It is his coping mechanism, but for a time that makes him ruthless,
dishonest and selfish. He and Daniel swear blood brothers very early in the
book, but their different reactions to their own personal tragedies is part of
what sets up the story.
Molly is only six at the opening of
the book, but she is already a feisty girl who is very able to look after
herself. She is sensitive but level-headed and more than capable of dealing
with the awful situations that come their way.
We see the three lead characters
growing from children to young adults in the course of this book and it is the
separation and reuniting of their lives which gives the basis for the story.
Essentially, New York Orphan is Daniel’s story.
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have
planned for the future?
The next in the series, Unequal By
Birth, comes out on October 18th. It picks up Molly’s story as a
young adult. The focus of the book is the fight for both sex and race equality
which was taking place in America in the 1860s.
Now I’m working on the novel which
comes after that which will look at injustice and corruption in law and
politics in the 1870s and covers more of Thomas’s story, although from part way
through New York Orphan he has changed his name to William.
Do you allow yourself a certain number of hours to write or do you
write as long as the words come?
I love writing, so will work as
long as time permits. I can end up resenting any interruptions during those
times. In reality I tend to set a minimum number of words to write and as long
as those are done I can stop when I like. That is more important for the days
when there are many more calls on my time as it means I still move forward.
Do you have a certain number of words or pages you write per day?
Only in terms of the minimum I’ve mentioned
and even that is misleading. I’m always writing other things as well, such as
my dog’s daily diary blog which has now run for over 13 years and is listed as
one of the top UK pet blogs. My minimum only relates to the novel itself,
everything else is on top of that.
What inspires you to write?
Writing is more like breathing to
me. It is something I have to do. My brain always seems to be active and pen
and paper are my brain’s overflow for all the ideas it can’t store. I find
ideas everywhere I look.
Would you rather
Read fiction or
non-fiction?
Half and half – I read a lot of both. I need the non-fiction
for research as well as general interest but I always have a novel on the go as
well.
Read series or
stand-alone?
Again both. When I find an author I like, I generally read
everything they have ever written and that can include both types. Similarly
I’ve written both.
Read Science fiction
or horror?
Definitely science fiction. I have a very vivid imagination.
It makes horror far too scary for me to read or watch. I’d never cope with
everyday life if I did.
Read Stephen King or Dean
Koontz
Neither – I’m sorry, just not my taste.
Read the book or
watch the movie?
Definitely the book. It’s almost a trick question though as
I have a very visual imagination and can readily see the book playing out,
which can mean I feel as though I’ve seen a movie.
Read an ebook or
paperback?
I get through more audio books these days as they can play
as I walk the dogs, drive the car, cook my meals and so on. However, I read
ebooks in queues or the dentist waiting room and paperbacks in bed.
Be trapped alone for
one month in a library with no computer or a room with a computer and Wi-Fi
only?
Either would be fine by me. Perhaps I could do alternate
months then I’d have the best of both worlds.
Do a cross-country
book store tour or blog tour online?
Now that’s a tough one. I do love online tours and
discussions with readers, but I love real life meetings too. Technology does
allow me to get to more places in less time and meet people I would never have
got to see otherwise, so I guess if I can only have one it would have
to be online.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Rosemary
J Kind writes because she has to. You could take almost anything away from her
except her pen and paper. Failing to stop after the book that everyone has in
them, she has gone on to publish books in both non-fiction and fiction, the
latter including novels, humour, short stories and poetry. She also regularly
produces magazine articles in a number of areas and writes regularly for the
dog press.
As
a child she was desolate when at the age of 10 her then teacher would not believe
that her poem based on ‘Stig of the Dump’ was her own work and she stopped
writing poetry for several years as a result. She was persuaded to continue by
the invitation to earn a little extra pocket money by ‘assisting’ others to
produce the required poems for English homework!
Always
one to spot an opportunity, she started school newspapers and went on to begin
providing paid copy to her local newspaper at the age of 16.
For
twenty years she followed a traditional business career, before seeing the
error of her ways and leaving it all behind to pursue her writing full-time.
She
spends her life discussing her plots with the characters in her head and her
faithful dogs, who always put the opposing arguments when there are choices to
be made.
Always
willing to take on challenges that sensible people regard as impossible, she
established and ran the short story download site Alfie Dog Fiction for six
years building it to become one of the largest in the world, representing over
300 authors and carrying over 1600 short stories. She closed it in order to
focus on her own writing.
Her
hobby is developing the Entlebucher Mountain Dog in the UK and when she brought
her beloved Alfie back from Belgium he was only the tenth in the country.
She
started writing Alfie’s Diary as an Internet blog the day Alfie arrived to live
with her, intending to continue for a year or two. Thirteen years later it goes
from strength to strength and has been repeatedly named as one of the top ten
pet blogs in the UK.
For
more details about the author please visit her website at www.rjkind.com For more details about her dog
then you’re better visiting www.alfiedog.me.uk
Buy Link:
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2 comments:
Thank you for inviting me to join you on your blog today.
Great excerpt & interview!
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