Escape to Southern Point - www.jenniferolmstead.net

Questions about Men Among Sirens:Thanks to Tracy Deans and members of the Beach Book Club for allowing me to speak at their meeting in Virginia Beach. Some questions from the group: Q. You portrayed the military aspects of the book very accurately. Are you a Navy spouse?

A. No. Most of the knowledge I have is passively acquired from living in a Naval port for 23 years. My father was a Navy Officer early in his life, and I dated a few “Navy Men” when I was younger. And, of course, the character of Blaine is based on a Navy Pilot I met during the first Gulf War.

Q. Did you have an alternate ending to the story, or did you plan from the start for things to end as they did? A. Early on, I struggled with two endings, but reverted back to the ending I eventually used, based on the characters “telling me” what they would do via their personalities and evolution throughout the book. In the end, it was the only feasible way for the story to conclude.

Q. I got angry with Ainsley for her initial response to Chris’ accident and her decision not to make a change in her life after what he did to her. Why did she stay in the relationship?

A. She made her choice in response to what she had experienced with John, and her unwillingness to remain passive in the face of another loss.

Q. I wondered if Chris knew, in the end, things he didn’t admit to knowing, about his family.

A. Without giving too much of the story away to those who haven’t read the book yet, I will say that he received a gift from Ainsley and Ruby, which they never disclosed to him.

Q. None of the book's advertising or promotional material hints at Blaine's profession. Some readers might find it shocking. Was that intentional?

A. Men Among Sirens is ultimately about a family, and real families face issues that cross the lines of social norms and acceptabilty. None of us is immune to human desire, weakness, call it what you will. That includes Blaine MacGearailt, Ainsley Bohan and the rest of us. The book doesn't condone their actions, but instead follows along with them on their journey to reconciliation. I don't use Blaine's vocation as a marketing point because I don't want to overshadow the substance of the book with any kind of sensationalism, especially with what's in the media right now.

Q. Are you from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan?

A. Yes and no. I consider myself a semi-Yooper, because although I was not born there, my mother’s family is from the U.P., and my siblings and I spent two months of every summer—and some holidays—from gestation to our early twenties at my grandparents’ retirement home in a small town on Big Bay de Noc. I still travel there in the summer and winter with my family to get my annual “fix” of pasties, Trenary Toast, blueberries and the lake.

Q. Is Ainsley Bohan based on a real person? Is the book based on actual events?

A. All of the characters in Men Among Sirens are fictitious by definition, although aspects of each are pulled from people I’ve known throughout my life. I will say that many of the events in the book did occur, but not necessarily within my family or in any one geographical region. I interpret the adage “write about what you know” to mean “write from a place of personal perspective.” In the case of Men Among Sirens, that was more about the pathos and evolution of the characters than recording a chronology of factual events. Physically, Blaine was based on a Navy FA-18 fighter pilot I met in Virginia Beach in the early 1990's who hailed from Houghton, Michigan, believe it or not. Ren Mercer was modeled after a close family friend from Michigan. And, I'm sure some locals from both Virginia and Michigan will recognize bits and pieces of friends and neighbors mixed into the other characters in the book. I will concede, however, that Attila is based directly on one of our family dogs, who died when I was 17. He was every bit as wonderful as Attila was written. His name was Mr. Chips.

Q. Does the Bohan’s Victorian house from the book really exist? A. Yes, but not in Virginia. To protect the privacy of the current owners, that’s all I’ll say about that.

Q. Where is Makwa Point?

A. In my head! That’s another question I’ll leave to my readers to try to determine.

"Although I write fiction, I pull significant elements of life experiences into the mix, and some of those experiences are extremely painful. One has to be in the right mindset to be able to go into those depths and commit to that process. I don't want to analyze Dare’s character too much, because I know as an avid reader that when I have discovered a character in a story, I don't want someone else telling me anything about that character that would sway my image. I don't want to be told that what they've done isn't possible, or that they don't look the way I’ve conceptualized them. I don't want to compare Dare to the person inspiring his creation, but I'll simply say that my brother is a wonderful guy, a great brother and uncle, a generous man. In the end, we don't write about a perfectly neutral day in our lives where everything clicks and nothing's out of sync. Who wants to read that? We’re compelled to write about things that impact us—either end of the spectrum things we can't accept—things we can't comprehend. I think one of the most important aspects of Dare Jordan is that underneath the complex layers of his personality there's a very simple issue. How much protection is enough protection, and how much protection is too much? All of us are the children of someone and when we look back on our childhood and upbringing, we can always find fault with our parents to some degree. And, as parents, we want more than anything to protect our children, but that's not always possible, nor is it always the best way to equip them to go out into the world. And then there's the question of whether when you’re protecting your children, are you actually protecting yourself?”

"Getting Earthbound Creatures onto the page wasn't difficult. The story nearly wrote itself. Letting go of the book was the hard part. It was actually the first manuscript I wrote--in 2008. I put it down in early 2009 and started Men Among Sirens. I picked it up again. Then shifted to The Stray. My sister always liked this story the best. Don't older sisters always know best? In retrospect, I think the book is much better for the delay. I honed my writing in the interim, and I think it shows in Earthbound Creatures. There's no doubt, while not autobiographical, this story hits very close to home for me. Not too much to hide behind in certain aspects of the work. And, the horses? That's all non-fiction. I'm not certain anyone who hasn't lived with horses could make that stuff up! Right now, readers from the US and Canada, the UK, India, Germany, Brazil, and Australia are reading the book. I'm humbled by the early interest, and I look forward to hearing from everyone."