Authors Interviewing Characters: Heidi McCrary, Chasing North Star

Chasing North Star is a story centered around a band of siblings as they tackle the challenge of surviving a mentally unstable mother. The story takes place in 1970, back when cars had ashtrays and kids were free-range. While the novel is narrated by the youngest, who was nine at the time, it also features the narrator’s three older siblings, one of which is Silvia, one of the narrator’s sisters.  

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Author:  Thank you for sitting down with me today, Silvia. Can I get you anything before we begin?   

Silvia:  Like what? (She looks around the front lobby of the radio station, where we’re conducting our interview. A young man walks through the lobby, and she studies him before brushing him off as not being on-air talent.)

Author:  I’m sorry. I meant, like a glass of water or a Coke. 

Silvia: Oh. No, I’m fine. Thank you. This place is so cool. Isn’t that an autographed picture of Bobby Vinton? He performed at the Allegan County Fair last year. And that’s Alice Cooper. Do you think there’s a chance we could tour this place?

Author:  I think we can arrange something after we’re done here. So, what are your thoughts about Chasing North Star, now that it’s finished, and you’ve had a chance to read it?

Silvia:  Um… it was good.

Author: That’s it…good? For a book in which YOU play a major role in, I would think you would feel stronger about it, one way or the other. (Pause) Did you read the book?  

Silvia:  (Shrugs and nods yes) 

Author: Silvia…

 Silvia:  OK, I skimmed it. It’s not really my thing. I like books with a little more action. We just finished reading The Outsiders in English Class. Now, that’s a book with stuff going on. Street fights, rumbles, and knives… 

Author:  Knives play a crucial role in Chasing North Star, if you recall.

Silvia:  Oh yeah. You have a point there. But you know what I mean, right? The Outsiders doesn’t have a backstory about their mother, making you feel sorry for her, even after reading what she does to her children later on. That’s messed up. And that’s what I liked best about The Outsiders.

Author:  No mother?

Silvia:  Not on a single page. You know what I’m saying?

Author:  I think so. Is it difficult for you to relive those moments?

Silvia:  (Shifts in her chair, and picks up a copy of Chasing North Star) Nah. It’s just that… I lived it. Truth is, I don’t really want to read about it. I read part of it during an early draft, and I told my little sister that she didn’t make our mother mean enough. Can you believe that? My mother doesn’t deserve to get a free pass by having readers feel sorry for her. After the way she treated my brother, she doesn’t deserve any sympathy. At least, she’s not getting it from me. How’s that for a review? In the book, our mother isn’t mean enough. (She pauses.) Sorry. 

Author:  Don’t apologize. How do you think your mother will feel about the book? Remorse, anger?

Silvia:  Are you frickin’ kidding me? She’ll be furious. But that’s her problem. Frankly, I don’t care how she’s going to react. (Looks through window separating the front lobby from the radio booth, where a young woman is giving the morning’s weather forecast. Can we go tour the station now?

Author: Yes, I think we can do that. Thank you, for talking with me, Silvia. Now, let’s go meet a DJ.

—

Heidi is the youngest of five children and lives with her husband, Jon in Kalamazoo, Michigan, just a short drive from Alamo where she grew up. She now owns the family woods that are depicted in her debut novel, Chasing North Star, where her children have been known to use as a place to get away from their own mother and father. Her two sons, Tyler and Phillip, are doing great despite being raised by a mother with no formal training.

Embracing all that West Michigan has to offer, Heidi can often be found hanging with her family in Kalamazoo and the many unique towns along the Lake Michigan shoreline or on the local golf course, working on her goal of becoming a mediocre golfer. Heidi has worked in the media world all her adult life—many years with the West Michigan CBS television affiliate, and currently in the advertising industry. She is also a contributing writer for a regional women’s magazine.

Chasing North Star is Heidi’s first novel. Chasing North Star is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold. Keep up with Heidi’s writings at heidimccrary.net/ and facebook.com/HeidiMcCraryAuthor.

Chasing North Star

Germany, 1940. While struggling to survive at an orphanage, young Didi crosses paths with a rebellious, quirky girl who will either help her escape a life of abuse and uncertainty or lead her down an even darker path.Fast-forward to 1970. With help from a worn leather journal, another young girl learns the story of Didi, who escaped war-torn Germany for a better life in America–except her life didn’t turn out as expected.

The stories of these two girls intertwine and eventually collide one Christmas night when Didi, all grown up, finally remembers the secret she buried long ago.Chasing North Star looks back at a time when four free-range siblings, cigarettes in hand, roamed the streets ’til sunrise and hid from a gun-toting, mentally ill mother who couldn’t help herself. Stingray bicycles, transistor radios, and late nights in the cemetary–just another day in Alamo. That is, until the youngest sibling stumbles upon Didi’s story.

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing