An Interview with Gail Park

Gail received her BA in history from Brigham Young University and her MLIS from Syracuse University. Now a retired librarian, Gail and her husband, Richard, reside in Boise, Idaho, with their Anatolian Shepherd, Loki. When not writing her Gallagher Girls mysteries, Gail tends her medicinal herb garden, does landscape and portrait painting, and traces her family history.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

It all started with a little group of writers in Washington State who invited me to join them. I hadn’t written anything besides journal entries and a biography of my dad for the family. We had lessons on character development, writing prompts, story start exercises, and then…the group decided to publish an anthology. I wrote a short story about an escape from East Germany during the Cold War. I had my name in print! It was a great way to get started, as several in the group were already published authors, and they helped me navigate getting an Amazon author page. One was an editor and did the editing on the anthology. Another was a graphic artist and designed the cover. We all beta read for each other’s stories and in the end, we had a book we could all be proud of. It’s called Rainfall: A Rainy Day Writers’ Anthology, and my story in it is called “Escape in Three Movements.”

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I ran a computer lab in an elementary school, worked in several bookstores, then got my MLIS from Syracuse University in 2005 and became a librarian. I was the Director for a small village library in Upstate New York, then when we moved to Washington, I was hired as the Library Manager for the Tumwater Timberland branch of the Timberland Regional Library System. I thoroughly enjoyed that career for 12 years until I retired in 2015. Then I started a new career as an author, herbalist and caregiver.

I’ve been a horsewoman, an herbalist, a genealogist and a librarian and an artist.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

The title, We Are Shadows, An Irish Ghost Story, comes from a poem by Thomas Moore. I did a lot of research on Irish poets and authors in the process of writing the Gallagher Girls Mystery series:

“It is true, it is true, we are shadows cold and wan; And the fair and the brave whom we loved on earth are gone; But still thus even in death,

So sweet the living breath

Of the fields and the flowers in our youth we wander’d o’er,

That ere, condemn’d, we go

To freeze ’mid Hecla’s snow,

We would taste it a while, and think we live once more!”

— “Oh, Ye Dead!” by Thomas Moore

What part of publishing your book made it feel real for the first time?

Receiving the box of copies for the first time was a very emotional experience—seeing the book I’d labored over for so long actually in my hands with its beautiful cover was overwhelming.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

Several of Enya’s songs could be the soundtrack for my books: “The Celts,” “Orinoco Flow,” “Caribbean Blue,” “Ebudae”…the Celtic vibe is perfect. Also, many of the songs by Secret Garden.

What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?

The hope that the afterlife is real, that our loved ones are near and still taking an interest in our lives, is a message that I hope resonates with readers and gives them a feeling of comfort and peace. These “ghost stories” aren’t your typical murder mysteries, nor are they your typical ghost stories. They are stories that have their genesis in the experiences of several of my ancestors as well as encounters I and others I know have had with the departed.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

I love doing book talks and fairs, meeting readers and sharing with them my journey and hearing theirs.

What creative projects are you currently working on?

I’m working on a memoir and a children’s picture book. The picture book I hope will be published before the end of 2025.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.