Mother's Child
By Michael Conant
Genre: Women's Literature
About the Book
Told in the voice of June, the story's protagonist, Mother's Child is a "slice of life" as it unfolds during a short period in a lifetime; strung together by one intensely charged event after another. It is the humor of life, marriage, and motherhood surrounded by the challenges of fighting the onslaught of an unknown disease, broken societal systems, and the suffering of broken hearts. It is the story of the average woman, finding her extraordinary voice, and having the courage to be heard.
In just over two months, June Gallagher's life has turned upside down; it will take a lifetime to resemble "normal" again. Her son's life is on the line--she is determined to save him.
About the Author
Michael Conant is the publisher and founder of Incorgnito Publishing Press.
Before entering the world of book publishing, Michael spent over twenty years in b2b publishing. He served as a circulation, sales, and marketing executive, managing products across several industries, with a concentration in financial publications.
Prior to his foray into publishing, Michael pursued his love of theater as an actor, singer, director, and producer at regional theaters, dinner theaters, and at several Off-Off Broadway theaters. Michael introduced New York audiences to the American premier of Hal Shaper’s musical adaptation of Jane Eyre, which featured Michael as Rochester along with a very young Alyssa Milano as his ward, Adelle.
Shortly after moving to Pasadena, CA, Mr. Conant was introduced to Cure Mito, an organization of “Mito Moms” dedicated to funding Mitochondrial Disease research in support of Dr. Richard Boles at Los Angeles Children's Hospital. Michael helped the group secure non-profit status and was elected as the organization’s first president.
In between his publishing duties and new writing efforts, Michael plays a lot of tennis with his South Pasadena, Arroyo Secco teammates. He also spends free time visiting with family and getting "puppy" kisses from his niece's lovable, crazy Bernedoodle, Bentley. (b3ntley_zefluff on Instagram)
Mr. Conant is also the co-author of David Margrave: The plumber who outwitted the IRS. He may be contacted at mconant@incorgnitobooks.com
An Interview with Michael Conant
What do you find most challenging about the writing process, and how do you deal with it?
Well, this book took more than five or six years to write: three years to postpone and come up with excuses not to write it, one year to write it in my head and think about it, and one year to actually write and publish it. Creativity has never been an issue with me. But writing is as much about discipline as anything else. You have to commit to the act of writing your thoughts and re-writing them and then having an editor stomp all over them so you can re-write them again. It’s a long and involved process that begins before you actually type or write a word – even when writing fiction as oftentimes, real events and times can be part of the plot. Mother’s Child, is based on facts of a particular disease and how it affects children and families. So, research was necessary. I find that when I am writing a plot event I enjoy telling or a character I get a kick out of, time ceases to matter. Other times, I sit there and count the words (or let Word do it for me) and struggle to get to my minimum word count for that day. When that happens, I tend to let my eyes drift to a part of the book I enjoyed to get refreshed and inspired.
When and where do you do your writing?
Because I am also a publisher, I like to joke that I have offices worldwide – anywhere a coffee shop has Wi-Fi! And that, along with my home office desk, is where I write. Sometimes on the road as well though I must admit that, during a six-week vacation (unintended) last summer, I wrote only five or six pages. Goes back to that discipline thing or for me at times, a lack thereof. I mostly write during the day but often find inspiration chasing away my sleep at odd hours of the night. I am trying to learn to write things down and to not rely on my memory to recall them the next day. I have an excellent memory; it happens to also be very short.
What have you learned about promoting your books?
Don’t write for love nor profit! Wait – write for the love of writing and because you just want to but don’t expect others to shell out hard earned greens for your black and white offerings. If they do, you are blessed. But, either way, you are no more or less a writer – to yourself. Someone once said to me, “Don’t write unless you have something to say.” I took that to heart. Write because you have a story you have to tell: a fantastical tale, a personal event, a take on an historic happening or whatever it is. But for God’s sake and more so for your own, don’t write because you think you are going to make money! As a publisher, I have learned that you put a book out there wherever you can to get exposure. Spend money where readers congregate and get your authors to get out and about and not sit in a coffee shop or at home praying a crowd gathers outside the front door. Books are like many other products and endeavors; it takes a tipping point to get them discovered on a large stage. Unfortunately, you cannot create a tipping point; you can try and create exposure.
What are you most proud of as a writer?
That I did it. It was an emotional experience for me when I handed the first printed (albeit ARC) copy to my sister. No one knew I was writing a novel except my editor. There is a back story to how this book came about that is too long and boring to go into here. Suffice it to say, this was a project left undone in the past, that invaded my being for years. I could only find peace of mind by writing it. It was an unfinished commitment that my stubborn nature would not let go of.
The other thing that I am proud of or rather get a kick out of is how the characters in the book wrote themselves. Though I had a strong outline in my head of where the plot would go and the type of people that would be in the story, I never could have imagined how they would come to life the way they did. I would write a story line and it was as if each of the characters were shouting out to me, “I am going to do this,” or “No, no-I wouldn’t say that but wouldn’t it be funny or more real if I said or did this.” This was especially true when writing about June’s mishaps or her friendship with Lizzie. And, it was most poignant and real when writing the Epilogue. I didn’t know I was going to write an Epilogue and, in fact, tried to get out of it (my editor would have none of that). I wrote it in one pass with two corrections from my very involved editor. I’m still not certain I wrote it or if someone somewhere was whispering it to me. Sometimes, you just have to trust the voice within.
If you could have dinner with any writer, living or dead, who would it be and what would you talk about?
Well, I would love to have a dinner celebration with all of my Incorgnito Publishing authors and illustrators/designers and editors. They inspired me to write and I enjoy their efforts so much. They live far apart but I have it my head to someday be able to do that.
Otherwise, I think I would have to chose David McCullum: we could just talk about John Adams all night and the other founding fathers perhaps. Okay so maybe he talks and I just listen and sip prosecco.
