Authors Interviewing Characters: Barbara Conrey

My Secret to Keep

When Maggie Bryan works up the nerve to tell her parents she’s pregnant, they immediately disown her. Later that night, her boyfriend is killed. In desperation, she turns to her brother, Sam. Against his wife’s wishes, Sam brings Maggie to his home in rural Pennsylvania.

While Maggie awaits the birth of her child and navigates the tension in her new home, she decides to finish high school. There, she meets Anne Phillips, a volunteer educator and full-time architect. Over time, Maggie becomes drawn to Anne in ways she doesn’t understand, but she knows enough to keep her feelings hidden.

After a devastating loss, Maggie tries to move on, but secrets and betrayals keep her from living her fullest life. Beginning in the late 1940s and spanning decades, My Secret to Keep portrays a woman at war with society, her family, and herself.

I thought it would be fun to interview Kate because although she is not the main character, she is essential to both Nowhere Near Goodbye and its prequel, My Secret to Keep.

Interview

Me: What did you think of Emma when you first met her in kindergarten?

Kate: I thought she was wound a little too tight.

Me: Too tight?

Kate: Seriously. By the time we jumped off the bus in Eden at the end of that first day of school, she looked just like she had when she first walked into the classroom that morning,  every hair was in place, and she was wearing a dress. And it was pink!

Me: But I thought Emma was your best friend?

Kate: Of course, she was my best friend! She did everything I wanted her to. Even when she was afraid, and I had to give her a little nudge. Like when we were climbing trees, I would be at the top, and Emma would still be on the ground looking up, screaming that she couldn’t see me anymore. I just knew she was going to start crying.

Me: So what did you do? Did you climb down from the tree?

Kate: Of course not! I yelled at her and told her she was a baby. And I didn’t want to be friends with a baby.

Me: That was kind of harsh. What did Emma do?

Kate: She climbed the tree. To the top!

Me: I see. Let’s move ahead. What did you do when you found out you were sick?

Kate: I wasn’t sick. I was dying!

Me: Well, yes. So what did you do?

Kate: I told Emma. And she didn’t believe me at first. But then I showed her my medical records that I borrowed, sort of, from my dad’s office. Then she believed me. 

Me: When I talked To Emma, she said you had a penchant for bad words. Is that true?

Kate: You wrote the book. You gave me the bad words! 

Me: Hmm. True. Were you scared when you found out you had a brain tumor?

Kate: I wasn’t scared until my dad told me there was no cure. My father was a well-known oncologist; I thought for sure he could fix me. Isn’t that what fathers are supposed to do?

Me: Who was your favorite character in My Secret to Keep?

Kate: Well, Emma, of course! She grew up and found a cure for my brain tumor, just like she promised. But next to her, I loved Miss Maggie the best. She was funny, sometimes not-so-very-nice, but always fair, and she said bad words too!

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Buy My Secret to Keep Here:

https://www.amazon.com/My-Secret-Keep-Barbara-Conrey/dp/1958231010

Barbara Conrey is the USA Today Bestselling author of Nowhere Near Goodbye, her debut, published on August 4, 2020, by Red Adept Publishing. Liza Fleissig represents her at the Liza Royce Agency. Her sophomore novel, My Secret to Keep, released on August 23, 2022.

Barbara is an active member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, Women’s National Book Association, and Author Talk Network. She also moderates the online book club for the Facebook Group Bookish Road Trip.

Travel is her passion, along with reading, writing, hiking, and exploring antique shops. Her greatest love is Miss Molly, her rescue beagle. Barbara lives in Pennsylvania, close to family and friends.

If you’d like to know more about me and my books, you can find me at www.barbaraconreyauthor.com

 

MY SECRET TO KEEP, Barbara Conrey

When Maggie Bryan works up the nerve to tell her parents she’s pregnant, they immediately disown her. Later that night, her boyfriend is killed. In desperation, she turns to her brother, Sam. Against his wife’s wishes, Sam brings Maggie to his home in rural Pennsylvania.

While Maggie awaits the birth of her child and navigates the tension in her new home, she decides to finish high school. There, she meets Anne Phillips, a volunteer educator and full-time architect. Over time, Maggie becomes drawn to Anne in ways she doesn’t understand, but she knows enough to keep her feelings hidden.

After a devastating loss, Maggie tries to move on, but secrets and betrayals keep her from living her fullest life. Beginning in the late 1940s and spanning decades, My Secret to Keep portrays a woman at war with society, her family, and herself.

“MY SECRET TO KEEP is a powerful story of courage and acceptance, an emotional journey through the life of Maggie Bryan, a strong but conflicted woman who, according to society, finds love in all the wrong places. Or does she?” Barbara Claypole White, bestselling auhor of THE PERFECT SON and THE PROMISE BETWEEN US

“Both heartwarming and heart-wrenching, MY SECRET TO KEEP is a poignant and stunning tale of secrets, lies, and betrayal that examines the choices we make about family, friendship, and love. Told thrugh a compelling narrative, Conrey’s writing is stunning. Readers can’t help but fall in love with Maggie and Anne. I was hooked from the first page.”
-Kerry Lonsdale, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post & Amazon Charts Bestselling Author

BUY HERE

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing