Featured Interview With Claire Fullerton
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am proud to say that I grew up in Memphis, TN. I now live in Malibu, CA, with my husband, two German shepherds and one black cat. I also once lived in Galway, Ireland, which is where I set my second novel, “Dancing to an Irish Reel.” I am a full-time writer, an ex-music disk jockey in Memphis, a ballet dancer, and a lover of animals and the great outdoors.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I consider the consistent keeping of a journal around the age of eighteen as the beginning of my writing career because it taught me how to write clearly and concisely with attention to detail. I began submitting poetry to magazines, and was encouraged when I was published. From here, I had a short story published, and a handful of readers wrote in to say they wanted to read more, so I wrote a novel. I also wrote a weekly column in first person for the local newspaper in Malibu, CA. From the time my first novel was published by Vinspire Publishing, I’ve been writing every day since.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I am a fan of contemporary fiction, especially when it is written in the first person voice. I adore the author Pat Conroy because of his lyrical way of writing and his ability to transport readers to a certain sense of place. I admire the author, Donna Tartt, and also the author Ann Rivers Siddons. All three authors I have mentioned inspire me and are considered Southern writers; all have mastery of the English language and all are masters of craft. When I read, I learn from the great writers, and it is my favorite past time.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Dancing to an Irish Reel is contemporary fiction set on the western coast of Ireland. Hailey Crossan is a twenty five year old American who leaves the Los Angeles record business and takes a trip to Ireland, where she is unexpectedly offered a job too good to turn down, so she stays. A handful of Irish friends help her acclimate to the breathtaking, beautiful area with its particular social and cultural nuances, and, when she meets a local musician, it is her friends who help her decipher why this young man won’t come closer, or completely go away. This book was taken from the journals I kept when I lived in Galway, Ireland, and is very true to life, although it is fiction. If a reader is interested in Ireland, has Irish roots, and really wants to know what it feels like to be living in Ireland, this is the book to read! But it is also a story about the uncertainty and ambiguity of new love, which always has hope and excitement, but also doubt and confusion as two people try to understand each other.
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