By the Dark o’ the Moon draws heavily from Irish selkie folklore. What first drew you to selkies, and why did you decide to center a novel around them?
Since all four of my great-great-grandparents hail from Cork, Ireland, I was naturally drawn to these Irish folkloric tales as a child. I had the entire My Bookhouse series when I was 11 and read “Through Fairy Halls” over and over, fascinated by fairy culture. When I was 46, I traveled to Ireland for the first time, then onto Scotland, and England, in search of the origins of fairy and selkie stories. (Selkies are considered the marine version of shape-shifting fae.) I found all sorts of obscure info and stories from libraries, rare books, and in-person storytellers.
At the same time, living on the coast of Maine, I often got to see harbor seals in their habitat up close on boat rides. Two ideas connected at once: in my last novel, The Ghost Trap, about a lobstering family, a malignant lobsterman kills a seal for stealing bait. In classic selkie lore, fishermen steal the sealskins of female selkies and kidnap them to be their wives. (Lobstermen are generally great people–I know a lot of them! But in my books, a couple of them are straight- up villains.) All of good storytelling is about “What if?” What if I took the classic lore of selkies from Ireland and transposed them into Maine’s Penobscot Bay? What would happen to a lobsterman who steals a selkie baby’s sealskin? What would happen if the colony of selkies, tired of the eons of abuse from Mankind, rose to wreak vengeance? How would the selkie mother in 1927 Prohibition Maine, use all of her resources and wiles to get her child back?
You spent ten years researching for this book. What was the most surprising or memorable discovery you made during that time?
The deeper I delved into the history and folklore, the more mesmerized I became. Researching and writing a novel like this is like being a kid again, falling into a fantasy world on a long summer day, with nothing to do but lie on your back in a meadow and daydream. It’s probably no surprise that I wanted to be an author at a young age. I’d say what was memorable for me is that the physical act of researching, writing, and daydreaming about the characters has brought me joy and fulfillment I never thought I’d feel again as an adult.
How did your travels through Ireland, Scotland, and England influence the world and characters in the story?
The countryside of Ireland, Scotland, and England is very similar to Maine. It’s beautiful and wild, lending itself naturally to folklore and fantasy. The topography (glens, hills, dales, wild, crashing surf, and jagged cliffs) was just as much of a “third character” as the fictional people in my story.
Maine’s history of rumrunning plays a role in your novel. How did you research and incorporate this unique part of local history?
This has always been a fascinating topic for me as a journalist. I was the only one in Midcoast Maine to ever write, report, and photograph two notorious speakeasies in Rockland, Maine, before they were renovated and converted into stores and apartments. That, and knowing that Maine was the first state in the U.S. to enact Prohibition in 1851 (almost 70 years before the rest of the U.S. followed) made it logical that lobstermen and fishermen, with their fast boats, were the first rumrunners in U.S. history. I spent many days at the Rockland Historical Society poring over old newspaper stories in 1927 that revealed sheriff raids, arrests, houses of “ill repute” and “blind pigs,” i.e., speakeasies. I have lived on the coast of Maine for more than 30 years, and my imagination began to see the modern world through the lens of the 1920s. What if I could bring Main Street in Rockland back to roaring life in 1927 with Model Ts, horse and buggies, sleezy speakeasies, and the looming presence of undercover Prohibition agents and the Coast Guard chasing rumrunners in Penobscot Bay?
Were there any moments in writing the novel when the folklore or history inspired plot twists you hadn’t anticipated?
I don’t heavily outline my novels; I let them unfold, chapter by chapter. I write to plunge people into the kind of worlds I fell into as a kid with the “My Bookhouse” series. But, I am a secretive Scorpio author; I don’t want my readers to be able to telegraph a very obvious ending, so yes, there are several plot twists in this novel you won’t see coming. I write for readers who are intellectually curious and who like to make their own discoveries.
How do you balance historical accuracy with the imaginative aspects of folklore?
This book is technically a historical fantasy, but not high fantasy. Beyond Lord of the Rings, I am not particularly drawn to massive world-building of wizards, dragons, and high courts. By the Dark o’ The Moon is more grounded fantasy, set on a rural, remote Maine island, and in several Midcoast towns. If you liked True Blood, where everyday people knowingly or unknowingly interacted with supernatural creatures, that’s how I balanced the novel. The historical accuracy of fishermen and seal conflict in Irish/Scottish folklore lent itself naturally to lobsterman-seal conflict in Maine. I studied seal behavior like a biologist to further lend realistic credibility. Therefore, Aaelene’s selkie colony lives like regular harbor seals on one of the 4,600 islands off the coast, blending seamlessly by day, stripping off their skins and carousing at night. Like vampires, they’ve been successfully able to conceal their true nature for centuries. But, unlike vampires, they are mortal, and can be injured and die like regular seals.
Did any character evolve in unexpected ways as you wrote the story?
Yes, both Danny and Aaelene, the two protagonists, did. Writers often put a lot of their own upbringing and past trauma into their characters, and I did too. Danny, a broken young man, a lost soul who feels worthless, is very much like the way I was at 22. I won’t give spoilers, but as the novel builds tension, he gathers strength and resilience in the face of crippling self-doubt. It was almost like cheering on my young self on from the sidelines. And Aaelene, talk about “don’t judge a book by its cover.” When you first meet her, she seems meek, subservient, insecure, and frightened. But don’t be fooled. Selkies are shapeshifters for a reason, and her public self is very much a secret departure from her private self.
Was there a particular scene or chapter that was especially difficult to write, and why?
Yes, and it’s a spoiler, so I can’t give it away. But Elray Cross, the antagonist, the one-armed lobsterman turned rumrunner who steals Aaelen’s child’s sealskin, keeping her tethered to land, is the one character that I didn’t like getting into his head. It’s a sick, ugly place.
What themes or emotions do you hope readers will carry away from By the Dark o’ the Moon?
I’ll do this as a list of tropes:
Moonlight secrets
Old wounds
Slow burn dread
Dark folklore
Old superstitions
Ancient bargains
Nature’s vengeance
Haunted protagonists
Burden of truth
Survival of innocence
How does your background as a journalist influence your approach to researching and writing historical fantasy?
As mentioned above, it informs everything I do as an author. For you to believe the world I create, the story must be grounded in reality and believability. Therefore, I research what I don’t know, read copiously in my genre, and thoroughly vet my work with authorities on various subjects before the book goes to print. By the Dark o’ the Moon was proofed by lobsterman, a distiller, a Rockland, Maine historian, and the Hollywood division of the USCG (for accuracy), as well as editorially copyedited (very well, I might add) by Maine Authors Publishing.
Film Adaptation and Career Reflections: 11. Your debut novel, The Ghost Trap, was adapted into a feature film. How did it feel to see your story translated to the screen?
As I’ve told many people, it was totally unexpected and out of the blue to have an LA producer come to Maine (where he grew up) and pick up a copy of The Ghost Trap at a local bookstore. By that time, the book was backlist, nearly nine years old. When he told me they wanted to adapt the book into their first movie–and then asked me write the screenplay–I literally couldn’t believe it. Here I was middle-aged, having worked on my writing craft for more than 30 years with nominal success, and suddenly, my entire world changed. I also became an executive producer on the film, and they allowed me access to everything from pre-to post-production. I helped choose the cast, scouted the locations we were going to film at, helped choose the costumes, worked with the cast on the dialogue, weighed in on the music, worked on the final edit, and participated heavily in the promotion. Six years in the making–it was the wildest ride of my life.
12. You were also the screenwriter and executive producer for the film. How did that process compare to writing the novel itself?
Whoops, I answered part of this question above. Filming your own movie is like laying down train tracks as the train is moving 100 mph. There are so many moving parts that MUST work together. Every day on set was thrilling, but we had unforeseen problems, too. We were kicked out of some locations (because it was a working waterfront, not just a film set!), there were some crew tensions, some cast got COVID, and two cars for our scenes broke down. But there was no time to stop. We were on a very tight budget, and every day was like a 14-to-16-hour day just to finish the shooting schedule. Comparatively, being an author is a cakewalk. I took my time. Wrote when I felt like it. There was no pressure. The outcome was dependent on no one but myself. The only person who was going to get in my way was me.
13. Did adapting your story for film give you new insights into your own writing process?
Yes, as a screenwriter, I became disciplined in using the three-act structure (the set up>confrontation>resolution). In a novel, you can meander and take detours, and provide all kinds of background and detail. But that three-act structure is fundamental to good storytelling.
14. What was the most challenging part of transitioning from novelist to filmmaker?
Taking 300+ pages of the novel and choosing what to keep and cut out for 90-100 pages of a screenplay was the biggest challenge. Oh! And I first had to learn how to write a screenplay! I took three months off from work, bought some books on “How to adapt your book into a screenplay” and followed some video tutorials. I had to eliminate a lot of extraneous detail from my book to adapt it into a script. You have to be ruthless, and I had my heart broken over some scenes I wrote that didn’t make it into the movie. You also have to “let your baby go.” Once I signed that contract with the producers, the film was theirs to shape any way they wanted. I was very lucky in that we worked so well together, they still let me have so much access to the entire filming and writing process, but you have got to let your ego go–because your baby is now their baby.
15. How has having your work adapted into a film affected your approach to storytelling in your subsequent novels?
With the new book, I also used some of my screenwriting background to keep the story tight and the plot moving.
16. As someone who started writing at 17 and found major success later in life, what advice would you give aspiring authors over 50?
Persevere. That one word is the only reason I found any success. I’ve had mountains of rejections from literary agents and publishers, multiple declines from screenwriting contests, and all the predictable disappointments authors go through on their journey. I have only one word of advice: persevere. Even if you need to take a step back and take time off; go back and keep improving your craft. Writing a good novel takes years to develop; it’s not a profession for those who need instant gratification. It’s playing the long game.
17. How do you stay motivated during long writing projects, like the decade it took to complete By the Dark o’ the Moon?
I developed a concurrent creative hobby fashioning miniature fairy dresses out of natural materials from the woods, and then wrote back stories around each one, imagining them to be a matriarchal troop in the woods of Maine. I’ve sold almost all of them. You can find them on my website, Tonic of the Woods.
Creative Process and Personal Insights: 18. Do you have a specific writing routine or rituals that help you enter “creative mode”?
It’s a mindset. I get up with the thought, “All right, today I’m going to write.” I’m not disciplined enough to do it every day, as other matters and work also take up my time. I write longhand into notebooks and give myself permission to write without any editorial constraint–just blat it all out on the page.
19. How do your Irish heritage and Maine upbringing inform the stories you tell?
In the 1900s, Irish people were mostly working class. In Maine, it was the same thing. Most of my books focus on the working class and their struggles, while giving a realistic portrait into what life is really like here.
20. If you could give your younger self one piece of advice about writing or life as an author, what would it be?
You’re going to write your heart out; it’s going to be your lifelong passion, and you are going to feel like a failure most of the time. You’re never going to make much money from it. You’re never going to shoot to the top of the NYT best-selling lists. But, be okay with that. Because people are going to come up to you and tell you how much your characters meant to them, and that is why you have chosen to be an author. Stick with it.
Rapid-Fire Questions: 21. Coffee, tea, or something else while writing?
I’m Irish, so likely a beer. Gotta live up to the stereotype!
22. Favorite place you’ve traveled for research?
Europe, hands down. And out on Penobscot Bay in Maine.
23. One book you wish you had written?
Although I love reading books from other authors, I don’t ever wish I wrote anyone else’s book. Each author has his or her own unique story to tell.
24. Favorite myth or legend besides selkies?
Oh, I love them all. All of Celtic mythology, Arthurian legends, the Greek Gods and Goddesses, the Appalachian folk horror legends, Edgar Allen Poe and H. P Lovecraft stories, to name a few.
25. When you’re not writing, what’s your favorite way to spend time in Maine?
Hiking mossy forests, swimming in deep, still lakes, camping by myself, drinking a cocktail next to a campfire, FWBs (friends with boats), lobster feeds, Maine’s amazing small town communities, peaceful evenings at my home in the woods, listening to crows, and the drone of insects. And yes, I still lie on my back in meadows and daydream.
