Q&A: Mary-Anne O’Connor, Author of ‘The Stowaway’

We chat with author Mary-Anne O’Connor about The Stowaway, which is an epic romantic adventure of passion and heartbreak in an age of exploration, danger and opportunity.

Hi, Mary-Anne! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

I am a Sydney writer who was fortunate enough to reinvent my career in marketing/lecturing and become published author in my forties. I’ve subsequently put out 12 books in 10 years. My family and friends were incredibly understanding of this frenetic undertaking, especially my husband Anthony who has been my stalwart supporter throughout. He and I met when I was only eighteen and we’ve been together ever since, weathering storms, celebrating wins, having adventures. Our greatest adventure – raising our two sons Jimmy and Jack, has been the most wonderful experience of my life.

Perhaps that’s part of the reason why starting my writing career later on has been ideal. (I say that now – there were three frustrating years prior to getting published where I howled with angst at every rejection!) By the time the big break did come, I had lived a fuller spectrum of life and I was able to channel that into my very emotionally driven novels. Writing about lasting love? Tick. Raising and worrying over children? Tick. Aging parents? Tick. Grief, joy, birth, death. Tick, tick, tick, tick. The timing was meant to be, I think, and goes a long way to explain the avalanche of a million plus words pouring out my fingertips in so short a space of time.

It’s been a glorious kind of madness at times, raising boys and writing 12 books. Yet it was tempered by the soft beauty of living on the bush and soaking in deep valley sunsets each day, sharing time with family and friends and listening to music with our gorgeous dog Saxon. I wouldn’t trade my rollercoaster ride for the world.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

I’ve always been a book worm, devouring every fiction book on the shelf at home, school and the library that I could get my hands on. I actually remember ‘reading’ before I could read, telling my older siblings the tales from my children’s books and being quite certain they were the actual stories. Once I learnt how to actually read, it came as some surprise to me that the real tales differed so much from my own. I guess that was my first author experience. Most certainly, nothing made me happier at school than when the teacher said it was time for library or creative writing.

I also dream full movie-type dreams and can drift off into my own worlds easily…one teacher at school remarking to my parents: ‘I wish I knew where it was she goes to as she stares out that window in class.’ Somewhere I loved, that’s for sure. Stories have always been at the core of who I am and my imaginary worlds have always felt like true life.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: A Child’s Book of Verses by Robert Louis Stephenson. As mentioned above, I invented stories before I knew what they were, especially in this one. It had the most beautiful illustrations. I’ve always loved whimsical tales and this was filled with them.

• The one that made you want to become an author: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I was deeply inspired by Jo March’s enthusiasm, passion, independence and humour, and of course her love of her writing. That she chose to write authentically in the end about the loss of her sister made me want to write from the heart.

• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: I went through many obsessions, not just books but authors, but if I had to choose I would say that Anne of Green Gables and Little Women were life-changing for me. Both Anne and Jo’s determination to never give up in their quest to write – and keep on writing! never leaves me.

Your latest novel, The Stowaway, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Love, desperation, daring, determination, adventure.

What can readers expect?

An escapist adventure from one end of the world to the other in the mid-19^th century. I really wanted to encapsulate a sense of the world seeming incredibly vast, and yet for most people largely inaccessible save their own small corner. Aside from sailors or the very wealthy, the only other way you were getting on a ship was by becoming a convict or stowing away. My tale involves all four of these eventualities.

Elsa Ferner lives in a small village on the edge of a Norwegian fjord and is engaged to an older man she detests, so her prospects seem bleaker than most. However, Elsa escapes, stowing away on an English ship with the help of Thompson Smith, a handsome English officer. She embarks on an adventure far beyond the reach – even the imaginings, of most, and a great love story evolves between she and Thompson as they seek to create a Utopian ideal on far-flung Icelandic shores. Only fate is hardly done with them yet and their story continues in the bustling port of Liverpool, England, then ultimately Tasmania.

This is the epic novel I always wanted to write, packed full of adventure, romance, heartbreak, longing and determination. I hope it keeps the reader guessing until the very last page.

Where did the inspiration for The Stowaway come from?

My great grandfather Thompson Best was a stowaway. My father often told the story of Thompson being found halfway across the Indian Ocean in the bowels of a ship, sitting on a trunk that contained everything he owned in the world with his young son by his side, both starving. I was never a hundred percent certain it was true, yet family legend had it that the captain was forced to make the decision whether or not he would throw them both overboard. Fortunately for myself and my relatives the man was kind.

The second inspiration was courtesy of a man called Jorge Jorgensson who really did try to take over Iceland during this time, declaring himself king. Jorgensson ended up in chains and eventually Tasmania and had an incredibly adventurous life. Combining these two stories gave me all the ingredients for a daring, passionate hero and I like to think he meets his match in Elsa, a determined redhead with fiery Viking blood.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

I loved exploring the history of my ancestor Thompson and Jorgensson.

Jorgensson had one of the most extraordinary lives I’d ever read about, going from the Napoleonic wars to being king of Iceland to being a convict, a free man, a writer. The list goes on. Meanwhile my cousins helped me piece together the profile of Thompson Best who had fourteen children and left quite a legacy himself.

It gave me so much pleasure to create the combined character of Thompson, only I didn’t think to look up my great-grandfather on Ancestry.com until nearing the end of writing the novel. When I saw the word ‘stowaway’ on his records I was moved to tears – the family story was true! Then I saw someone had uploaded his photograph and I opened it to gaze upon his face for the very first time. It was a moment I will never forget, looking into his intense, blue eyes, a man I had shared so much time with yet never met. Like learning the true story behind the reimagined tales in a children’s book all over again. I knew I’d been handed a rare and very precious gift of connection across time.

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

Yes, the first draft needed a lot of re-working. It’s a very ambitious book, after all. Fortunately I had incredible editorial support to help me fine-tune the novel and pull all the pieces of this jigsaw of a story together with greater precision. It took a village to raise this child, believe me!

Can you tell us a bit about your research process?

As mentioned above, family folklore really underpinned this novel and my cousins were great resources, digging up photos and sharing fascinating insights into our great-grandfather. He lived to a grand old age and Dad remembered him clearly as ‘a cranky old coot who used to chase me and my brother Jim with his walking stick’ (no doubt deserved!) so I had those memories to guide me too. Aside from that, I fell into rabbit holes with Jorgensson who experienced so many extraordinary and contrasting aspects of life during such a remarkable time in history, I could easily have filled another novel.

What’s next for you?

I have a heartfelt love story coming out called Christmas Joy in November, the writing of which was like going on a dreamy holiday after my engrossing adventures with The Stowaway. It’s an escapist novel and a gentle reminder of what truly matters in life with compassion and goodness at its core.

Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?

I am currently reading A Woman’s Voice by Alli Sinclair which is brilliant and inspirational, and I look forward to Kelly Rimmer’s The Midnight Estate. She is always exceptional.

Will you be picking up The Stowaway? Tell us in the comments below!