{"id":6210,"date":"2025-01-29T09:59:42","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T17:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=6210"},"modified":"2025-01-29T09:59:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T17:59:42","slug":"author-interview-r-p-odonnell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/author-interview-r-p-odonnell\/","title":{"rendered":"Author interview: R.P. O’Donnell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I absolutely loved R.P. O’Donnell’s first novel,\u00a0No Comfort for the Dead<\/strong>,\u00a0set in tiny Castlefreke, Ireland.\u00a0 The book follows the journey of the town librarian, Emma, and it’s an evocative, beautifully written and felt novel.\u00a0 This is a writer who is giving readers much to enjoy, and much to look forward to.\u00a0 The lovely prose reminded me of Louise Penny.\u00a0 This is not a book to be missed!\u00a0 I was delighted when he agreed to answer a few questions.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: First of all, let me just say I loved the book.\u00a0 One of the reasons was character, especially Emma.\u00a0 Can you talk about how you developed your characters and populated the story?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Thank you so much! And thank you so much for the interview.<\/p>\n

I build my characters bit by bit. They start as a vague idea \u2014 a young burnt-out woman, for example, or a lonely widow in a small village. And from there, I experiment. I add on bits of my own personality, or stories I\u2019ve overheard, and see if it fits. It\u2019s electric when you discover the reason a character behaves a certain way \u2014 even though you\u2019re the one who\u2019s created the character in the first place. To discover that a cranky old woman is actually that way because she\u2019s still grieving the love of her life forty years later. And then to discover that she\u2019s the one who went down to the shore with her father at 8 years old, searching for survivors from a shipwreck. That\u2019s what excites me about writing \u2014 getting closer to understanding people.<\/p>\n

Q: I loved the character of Mary.\u00a0 She\u2019s such a surprise in many ways.\u00a0 Can you talk about her a bit?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Mary was a surprise to me too! She began as a foil to Frances and Emma, but then took on a life of her own. I think it\u2019s because when we meet her, I wanted the reader to write her off as quickly as the other characters do. So when we realise just how much there is to this woman, it\u2019s a revelation for everyone.<\/p>\n

Out of all my characters, Mary is the least like me, personality-wise. And not just because I hate boiled sweets. But I have a great compassion for, and understanding of, her deep loneliness. It can sometimes feel like grief and loneliness can drown out everything good about a person. And it\u2019s much easier to just write people like that off, to tell ourselves, well, they\u2019re just unpleasant <\/em>and move on. But really,\u00a0 we all need to look harder at the people we see around us. And at ourselves. To be curious, not judgmental, as Walt Whitman definitely did not say. A challenge for people to say \u2018Hello in There\u2019<\/a>, as John Prine on the other hand did<\/em> say.<\/p>\n

Q: Why set your book in the 80\u2019s?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Because I hate digital technology. (Just kidding.)<\/p>\n

In 1988, The Economist <\/em>wrote that Ireland was doomed. It was essentially a call to take the country\u2019s economy behind the woodshed and just be done with it. The game was over, they declared, and there was no possible chance at recovery. But then, just 10 years later, Ireland was in the midst of the Celtic Tiger \u2014 one of the world\u2019s greatest underdog stories. Until, of course, just 10 years after that<\/em>, and 2008 Ireland was one of the world\u2019s largest economic craters, revealing just how much of a sham the Celtic Tiger had been all along.<\/p>\n

And it wasn\u2019t just the economy. The Troubles had calmed down in the mid-80s, but then in March 1988, three IRA members were shot dead in Gibraltar. And that led to a series of unfortunate and escalating events. Suddenly, the calm was gone.<\/p>\n

So, 1988 in Ireland was a watershed moment. The year it changed completely. I thought it was an interesting time to start a story \u2014 to see characters go through change while the world around them takes the first step off a cliff.<\/p>\n

And I also hate digital technology. I recently bought a cassette tape recorder.<\/p>\n

Q: I really liked the various symbols throughout the book \u2013 the foxes and the bats.\u00a0 Can you talk about what those might mean and why you chose those in particular?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Wilhelm Nitzschke, Stuttgart 1888<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A: They represent the idea of the wild breaking through into everyday life. The unpredictability of nature, and of life itself, and how that can be both beautiful and dangerous. Before I say this, I have to stress that there is much, much more to West Cork than just farming and fishing. But even for the majority of people who are not farmers or fishermen, we\u2019re constantly surrounded by it. And when you\u2019re surrounded by it, you start to see nature\u2019s clock \u2014 foaling season, leaves changing colour, harvest time, etc. These days, we see a chance encounter with a wild animal, or with fate, as just that. A chance encounter. But really, it\u2019s part of a much larger cycle \u2014 the chiming of a clock we can\u2019t hear.<\/p>\n

Q: I know this is your first novel, though you have worked as a journalist.\u00a0 Not an uncommon switch up for a crime writer.\u00a0 Have you always wanted to be a novelist? How long was your path to publication?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: I wasn\u2019t actually a journalist! Just a freelance writer for some newspapers here. What drew me to it was that being freelance meant that I could write about anything I wanted, and I didn\u2019t have to be tied down into one specific area. I\u2019ve always been curious in a million different directions. I wrote about health, history, politics, social media, women\u2019s rights, childhood, and more. I think it\u2019s that curiosity and, ironically, its accompanying lack of focus that has helped me be a better novelist.<\/p>\n

I actually never wanted to be a novelist growing up. My parents were huge readers, and they gave that to us. Growing up, we were only allowed a half hour of TV a week, and me and my four older siblings had to agree collectively on what we watched for that half hour. So I read everything. Almost every author interview I\u2019ve seen, they\u2019ve usually said something similar \u2014 they were big readers growing up, and then one day, it clicked that they wanted to be one of those authors. For some reason, that never happened for me. I wrote poetry and music all the time, but never considered writing an actual book. It was once I moved to Ireland that it clicked \u2014 I wanted to write a book.<\/p>\n

Q: I see you were born in America but moved to Ireland.\u00a0 Is the village where you live similar to Castlefreke<\/a>?\u00a0 The setting and atmosphere are really lovely and help make the book a standout.<\/em><\/p>\n

A: I have to answer this one very carefully! The physical layout of the village is identical to the village I live in. You can walk though the village and point out the real buildings where all of the characters live \u2014 the Castlefreke library is the old post office, for example, and Emma and Sam live in my old house. I don\u2019t have a visual brain, so it was much easier for me to just populate a real village with imaginary people. But the characters and villagers are completely made up, and have no bearing on the real people of the village. As someone living in a small village, I just really have to emphasise that point.<\/p>\n

Q: While this book has many elements of a cozy \u2013 small village, town librarian main character, off the page violence – it\u2019s more of a dark or traditional cozy.\u00a0 Do you view this book as a cozy?\u00a0 Or is that mainly an American phrase?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: I don\u2019t think of it as cozy, but not because there\u2019s anything wrong with cozy crime. I don\u2019t want to sound pretentious, but I think genres are unhelpful. My favourite books are ones that are grouped, at least here, into the genre of Commercial Women\u2019s Fiction. And the range of books that this very unhelpful designation encompasses is insane. I wrote this book for my kids \u2014 so that 30 years from now, they\u2019ll be able to hold something that tells them what I valued, what I loved, and what I thought was important. And I\u2019ve always believed that, in everyone, there is good. So, the book was probably always going to turn out at least cozy-adjacent.<\/p>\n

Q: Who are your writing influences?\u00a0 Have you always read mysteries?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: As I was starting to write this, people asked and I said no, I don\u2019t read mysteries. Until somebody pointed out that the Sherlock Holmes adventures are mysteries. The story in the book of how she read her anthology of Sherlock Holmes until it fell apart, starting it over as soon as she finished it \u2014 that\u2019s me. (I\u2019m on my third copy now.) But Maeve\u2019s rant about how the adventures are not actually mysteries, because Sherlock is really just a superhero for nerdy kids \u2014 I wrote that because people in my real life were getting tired of hearing me say it over and over, unprompted. So it never clicked that I was a mystery lover.<\/p>\n

But once I decided to write a mystery, I started actively searching them out, reading more and more. I think it was helpful, both that I read a lot of them, but also that I came to it later, after I\u2019d decided the story and characters. So I could learn, rather than try to emulate.<\/p>\n

Q: The prose is another element that made this book a standout, and I loved the almost fey quality of the writing.\u00a0 How important is prose to you in creating a kind of emotional resonance for the reader?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: I love that word, fey. And that was a deliberate choice, because that\u2019s how I find the world. My favourite series is the Twilight Zone. People think it\u2019s a sci-fi show, but mostly it\u2019s about how thin the division between the real world and something more mystical really is. And especially in West Cork. The story at the end, about the lights in Castlefreke, is a true story.<\/p>\n

One of my all-time favourite authors, Caroline O\u2019Donoghue<\/a>, says that all authors are one of three things: a director, a musician, or a stand-up comedian \u2014 in terms of what they value and emphasize as writers. I am definitely a musician.<\/p>\n

To try to explain it, my whole family is obsessed with Scrabble. I absolutely love board games \u2014 but for some reason, Scrabble never interested me. Which is odd, for someone who reads and writes as much as me. But I later realised that the reason Scrabble never interested me is because I\u2019m not actually interested in individual words. Words for me are like individual musical notes. Musicians don\u2019t say, you know, I just love a C#m. <\/em>It\u2019s when you combine those notes in certain combinations, and turn them into a song \u2014 that\u2019s where the magic is.<\/p>\n

Q: What\u2019s next for you?\u00a0 Do you have a long arc in mind for Emma?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: I do indeed! I\u2019m not done with Castlefreke or Emma yet. I\u2019m currently working on a sequel that I\u2019m really excited about. It takes place a few months after No Comfort for the Dead<\/em>, in the wake of all the changes in the village.<\/p>\n

Q: Finally, can you talk about a book that was transformational for you as a writer or a reader?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A: It\u2019s going to sound silly, but I\u2019m obsessed with the children\u2019s series, Frog and Toad<\/em> by Arnold Lobel. Mainly because I want to live in their world, and I love both the messages and the aesthetic. But in terms of writing, it\u2019s an interview with Lobel that changed me as a writer. He said once that both Frog and Toad are different sides of his personality. Basically, that he wanted to understand himself better, by writing these two very different characters. It sounds very simple, but as they say, common sense isn\u2019t always common practice. That message became my approach to character, which is how I approach writing.<\/p>\n

And Caroline O\u2019Donoghue, Douglas Adams, John Cheever, and Maeve Binchy. They all changed my life, as well as my writing.<\/p>\n

***********************<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>R. P. O’Donnell grew up on the South Shore of Boston. He was short and wore a back brace for two years, so he really had no choice but to love reading and writing from a young age. He graduated from Bucknell University with a degree in English. He’s had a wide range of job experiences: garbage collector, A&E admissions, apprentice to a roving yard-sale salesman, barista, camp counsellor, caterer and a call centre employee. He moved to a tiny fishing village in West Cork seven years ago, where he lives with his two children. His debut mystery,\u00a0 No Comfort for the Dead, <\/em>also set in a village in West Cork, is forthcoming from New Island Press (UK) and Crooked Lane (US).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I absolutely loved R.P. O’Donnell’s first novel,\u00a0No Comfort for the Dead,\u00a0set in tiny Castlefreke, Ireland.\u00a0 The book follows the journey of the town librarian, Emma, and it’s an evocative, beautifully written and felt novel.\u00a0 This is a writer who is giving readers much to enjoy, and much to look forward to.\u00a0 The lovely prose reminded … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1958,943,355,1261,1960,1957,1276],"class_list":["post-6210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-castlefreke","tag-crooked-lane-books","tag-ireland","tag-librarian","tag-no-comfort-for-the-dead","tag-r-p-odonnell","tag-robin-agnew"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6210"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6221,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6210\/revisions\/6221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}