Authors Guild Member Spotlight

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? 

I process my life circumstances through writing fiction. Sometimes, breakthroughs happen during the writing journey. The written word is the most important medium to communicate emotional & mental energy to the world and lasts for generations.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? 

Showers, evening kayak paddles, and long walks.

What is your favorite time to write? Between 10pm and midnight.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Read Stephen King’s On Writing and do what he says.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? 

The instant gratification that is available through modern technology. My friends were texting as they read my novel. The ability to contact an author with questions and comments while reading their book is pretty neat.

Erica Colahan’s The Oystercatcher of Southwark is out now with Chrism Press.

 This is your debut novel. How exciting! What message do you hope your readers take away from this latest release?

Mary, the protagonist in The Oystercatcher of Southwark, faces heart-wrenching trials in life but somehow holds onto her faith. I want to inspire my readers to find hope even in the darkest circumstances.

You mentioned picturing the story you researched every time you passed by the Delaware River. How long did it take you from the decision to write the story until you had researched enough to create a viable novel?

Everything happened simultaneously. I started researching while writing dialogue and character development scenes. My mom, an avid genealogist and keeper of family secrets, helped me tremendously.

You have multiple irons in the fire with your full-time job in accounting, taking care of your children and your household, and pursuing your hobbies. This also includes digging into your family’s past to write this debut novel. What literary pilgrimages (if any) did you take for book research? What was your favorite and what did you discover or learn?

My mom and I enjoyed lunch at The King George Inn and walked along the Delaware River. We toured the house and gardens at Andalusia. We spent an afternoon with my Aunt and Uncle, residents of Queen’s Village, the neighborhood once called Southwark. We meandered through the streets and spent time admiring Mary’s family’s home on the corner. I remember being awed as I placed my hands on the brick of the house.

My favorite literary pilgrimage was a trip to the Philadelphia City Archives with my mom. We were determined to find evidence of Mary in the Blockley Almshouse. I wrote a scene in the novel describing that excursion precisely as it happened. Finding my great-great-grandmother’s name in the asylum register was a magical moment I will never forget.

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