This week brings us an author from one of my favorite states, Maine. Karri Moser, welcome to Martin Matthews Writes!

Thank you so much. I'm really grateful for the chance to talk about my book, A Home for the Windswept.

Well, before we get to the book, which I’m excited to talk about, tell us a little about yourself!

I have been focusing on my fiction the last five or so years after finishing my first novel in 2015. I spent years as a news reporter and freelance writer working for many different outlets and companies. That was a convenient career choice when my husband was active duty Army and my kids were growing up. I could work continuously and from anywhere as we made several moves. 

In my free time lately, I have been teaching a creative writing course for several adult education programs in Maine and plan to expand my course and teaching opportunities. I love helping aspiring writers get motivated to write their own books. 

Besides writing, reading and teaching about writing, I love to run and have done a few half-marathons, garden, snow shoe, bum along the beaches of Maine, explore the woods, and generally be outdoors in any capacity. Most of my ideas come from time spent outside, which I'm sure is true for many other writers. 
While we moved around to several states during our Army family years, we have settled in Maine for the time being, but plan to move again in a few years. I'm not sure we will even put down roots in one town or place forever. But for now, we enjoy life in Southern Maine with our 2 dogs, our ever-expanding garden, and any time spent exploring our little patch of Maine woods just like Henry David Thoreau.

My in-laws live in Port-Clyde, Maine. It’s beautiful! Okay, so tell us a little about your book.

A Home for the Windswept, and my three previous novels, is considered women's fiction aimed toward two groups really--women who enjoy stories about women persevering under harsh circumstances and those who enjoy regional fiction. Setting plays a strong role in my previous works set in Maine and those works have been successful as regional and tourists reads in coastal bookstores, beach shops, and other locations along the coast. 

My latest, A Home for the Windswept begins in Maine and takes the reader on a cross-country journey to Nebraska. I consider it a retelling of the same themes in The Grapes of Wrath. It begins in 2008 in a small paper mill town that is shuttered by the recession and the tech boom. Much like The Grapes of Wrath, the family loses everything through no fault of their own and sets out to find a new life, a new means of survival. For my family, a young couple with their third child on the way, that means of survival is to move to Nebraska to rebuild tornado damage. Basil, the husband, is convinced man's greed and technology took away everything they worked for, so God's wrath in the form of tornadoes will now provide. The wife, Darcy, ultimately struggles with the idea of profiting off the destruction and pain of others and she naturally worries if her husband's 'breakthrough' is actually a 'breakdown'. It is a mix of both a 'man versus society' and a 'man versus nature' tale.

Wow, heavy stuff! I really like the Grapes of Wrath connection. Can you tell us about some of your characters?

My main characters are Darcy and Basil Sullivan. They are 23 years old and expecting their third child. Darcy got pregnant in high school and this 'slip up' was the beginning of their little family. The unexpected pregnancy throws Darcy's college plans out the window and the couple accepts their fate--a paper mill family just like their parents and grandparents before them. They are honest, responsible and a hard working couple who has to adapt to a changing world whether they want to or not. Their love and resolve to make it on their own is what carries them through as they set out to make a new life a thousand miles away.

Where did the idea for this book come from?

I imagined the characters first and the town came afterwards. Having lived in Maine for a while and having spent my teen years in a small town in Pennsylvania, I knew full well what happens to towns like that when industries leave or opportunities dry up. I also loved the idea of these two beating the odds, teen pregnancy be damned, and creating a life for their little family. It can ultimately also be seen as a love story between Darcy and Basil Sullivan as much as a journey and story of perseverance.

What are some of the idea and themes behind A Home for the Windswept?

I think a greater theme or message of this book would be the power of adapting. As a military wife and an Army brat, my dad also retired from the Army, being adaptable is a must. Making a new place a home, being able to leave others behind and moving to the unknown, those are underlying themes in this book as well as in my life. Adapt and you can persevere I guess would be the message.

Adaptation, yes. Quite important in our current pandemic-world. Can you tell us who or what are some of your biggest influences in your writing?

I have a lot of authors I love, including the greats of New England--Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, Hawthorne, and others. Current writers I find influential include Jeanette Walls, Kristin Hannah, Celeste Ng, Khaled Hosseini and others who write about complex childhoods and families. I think my attraction to those themes started when I read William Faulkner's The Sound the the Fury, one of my all-time favorite books. It changed my life, quite frankly.

And what are you currently reading?

I am currently reading Elizabeth Gilbert's City of Girls and so far it's lovely as I'm a quarter of the way through it. I love that time period--the 1940s. I love the easy style of her writing and it just flows flawlessly.

Are you working on another novel? Can you tell us anything about it?

Yes, my fifth novel is coming along. It will be my first that incorporates my childhood and adulthood living on Army posts. My main character is the daughter of a soldier who then falls in love and marries a soldier. That fact is the only autobiographical part of her story however. The rest is fiction.

How has the pandemic affected your writing life?

The pandemic led to a complete freeze of creativity. I found it impossible to write anything new for months. I spent my time, like many others, worrying about my loved ones, watching the news, and just unable to foster any new ideas despite having my main character in my head. She simply did nothing for months. It wasn't until I was able to travel again, leaving New England for the first time since it began, that new ideas started flowing. I visited my daughter in Nashville for a week in December. Lounging on her couch, not working, not worrying about anything else, and just being in a new setting seemed to turn on the faucet. My main character's story started to unfold, come to life, and has been flowing from my fingertips since.

I am sure many have gone through something similar. I wonder if there will be a post-pandemic flurry of publishing? Anyway, Karri, that just about raps it up for this interview. Thanks for stopping by and chatting with me today!

Thank you so much. I hope to talk to you about my next novel soon.