An Interview with Lorraine Norwood

I am a North Carolina native living in the Blue Ridge mountains. I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in English with honors in creative writing and then pursued a career as a professional journalist for over twenty years, working in print and television journalism. My lifelong interest in archaeology led me to change careers and earn a second degree in anthropology in 1998 followed by a master’s degree in medieval archaeology from the University of York in York, England.

When I returned to the U.S., I worked in archaeology and historic preservation for a number of years but am now happily writing full-time. I return to England whenever I can to participate in excavations and to stay in York, my favorite city. The Solitary Sparrow is my first novel. I am working on the sequel, A Pelican in the Wilderness. I am a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and the Historical Novel Society. I am happy that, at long last, after two marriages, two children, seven jobs, three college degrees, and twenty-three moves (two of which were abroad), I have a room of my own in which to write. I live with an old Lab who follows me everywhere and a grumpy old cat who doesn’t care what I do as long as I feed him.

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

The title was originally The Maid of St. Michael’s Mead. As the book morphed into four books in a series, I realized I needed more titles that were connected. My agent (a sad story—keep reading) thought I should name the series The Margaret Chronicles, named for my main character Meg/Margaret. I had already written a scene in book four where Meg reads a psalm to a dying woman. I thought maybe I could find something in the psalms. But which psalm? After reading more than 100 psalms, I found it—or it found me. Psalm 102. The titles for the first three books in the series jumped out at me: “I am like a pelican of the wilderness. I am like an owl of the desert. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.” By the way, I am not religious; more like a heathen anthropologist. But when I found that psalm, the hair went up on the back of my neck and I knew it was right. The Maid of St. Michael’s Mead is now the title of book four.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

I was absolutely thrilled. It was simultaneously magical and surreal and terrifying. Why? Because this s**t was gettin’ real. I had been working on it for years like a mad monk in a monastery, but now The World would see it. I couldn’t—and shouldn’t—hide it any longer. The cover was beautiful, and just as I’d envisioned it. I had thought about every aspect of the book from the cover to fonts to an interior map, and the right voice for audio narration. It was incredibly fun to bring it to life. Fortunately, everyone at Atmosphere not only grasped my vision but made it better.

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

I was a voracious reader when I was a kid. I adored the library and couldn’t wait to dive into the books I checked out each Saturday. I loved Nancy Drew mysteries, the Three Musketeers, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, books by Jean Plaidy, Victoria Holt, Jules Verne, the back of the milk carton, the cereal box—anything and everything. I was also writing plays for me and my sisters which we performed for the neighborhood kids for an admission of ten cents.

When I was eleven, I had a poem published in a national anthology. I saw my name and the title and I was hooked. But I didn’t know any writers. Authors were like gods to me. I worked as a journalist for years, but I always wrote fiction on the side. I took classes and workshops trying to learn the secrets of the craft. Still, it was years before I had the courage and confidence to finish a novel and put it out there.

Also, I’m a word-nerd. I love words. I love the etymology of words and yes, I’m a weirdo who loves to listen to Beowulf in the original Anglo-Saxon.

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

I started out in journalism. I covered a variety of stories for television and newspapers. Some of the more interesting ones include a riot at the state women’s prison, a feature on the state coroner’s office and lab, and a forensic psychiatric ward where the worst of the worst were housed. I made a mid-life change to archaeology (it’s a long story) and dug on sites in the UK. At a Viking site I found a 1,000-year-old spindle whorl. I excavated a dog buried in a stable built in the Victorian era (I named her Vicky for Queen Victoria). In a private visit to the British Museum, I held gold and garnet pieces from the famous Anglo-Saxon burial at Sutton Hoo. Recently I worked as an archaeologist/archivist for a science museum. My last task there was to clean mold off a hippopotamus skull (lots of Clorox and a hazmat suit).

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

A couple of years ago I got a rejection letter, one of many. I went to work feeling bummed out, convinced that I was never going to interest anyone in The Solitary Sparrow. My boss asked me what was wrong and when I told her, she said, “Listen, you have actually finished a book! How many people say they want to write a book and then don’t, or start and discover that it’s hard work and they shove it in a drawer? But YOU finished an entire book.”

I burst into tears. She was right. I had done the undoable. I felt proud of myself. Eight years after that conversation, my book is out in the world. But first I had to give up my dream/delusion that I would be picked up by the Big Five and wined and dined while shoving big bucks into my bank account. My agent reluctantly parted ways with me after she couldn’t sell the book even though the rejections were pleasant, thoughtful, and praiseworthy. I learned a valuable lesson. Money, it appears, is a big feature of rejection. If the marketing staff doesn’t think they can sell it, it’s voted down. If the editor’s boss doesn’t like it, ditto. If the executive committee of the small press doesn’t think it will sell books, it’s out. I was accepted by a couple of small presses, but my agent (still with me at that point) cautioned me against the contracts which were unfavorable to the writer. I fell into a deep dark rabbit hole.

So, imagine my surprise when one of my writer friends mentioned Atmosphere Press. I googled it expecting a scam. I was super skeptical. I researched the heck out of it. I talked to others who had experience with the press. Finally, I submitted my book. It was accepted. I had a phone conversation. I was thrilled but still skeptical. Transparency seemed to be a key word, but…

Everyone I talked to was nice, helpful, and professional. But I’ll be honest. It took me a long time to get rid of my years-long dream/delusion of being accepted by the big guys. I felt embarrassed that I was having to pay for my book to be published. Wasn’t that like the old days when vanity presses preyed on the naïve?

As it turns out, the answer is no.

I prefer to call it a co-op. Everybody works together to perform a task. If everyone makes the book the best that it can be, all can profit from its success. At the center of the co-op is the author. If the book sells and the author wins awards, the credibility and reputation of the press is affected positively, and everyone wins.

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

My book actually does have soundtrack. I started it years ago beginning with 14th-century plainchant and adding more music over time. Right now I have two playlists in Spotify that I use every day. The first is the choir of Clare College at Cambridge University. One of my fellow diggers on a site in England was a member of the choir and told me about it. When I listen to those beautiful young voices singing with such a passion for music, it reminds me of digging with all the arch students that summer. The other list features Psalm 102 put to music. All the songs remind me I have a series to finish. So I sit down at my desk, turn on Spotify, and hopefully, like Pavlov’s dog, I start to write.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

My perfect reader is fascinated by history and by the cyclical rolling tide of sameness that is the human condition. We celebrate and mourn: The birth of children, the death of grandparents, the constancy of war, sickness, catastrophe, marriage, etc. As the French say: plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Everything we are experiencing today also happened in the turbulent 14th century. In other words, the trials and tribulations of people who lived before us resonate because we are all part of the river of human conditions. My perfect reader understands this. And because my perfect reader is probably a woman, she understands how history has benefitted from the female presence and yet how many unsung women have been written out of history. She wants to celebrate those anonymous women who made their contributions and were then forgotten.

What new writing projects are you currently working on? Or, other projects that are not writing?

Sequels to The Solitary Sparrow: A Pelican in the Wilderness, Book 2; An Owl in the Wasteland, Book 3; and The Maid of St. Michael’s Mead, Book 4. All are outlined and partially written. All the characters and their journeys are firmly ensconced in my brain. I know where my characters are going and where they are ending up. I’ve just got to get them there.

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

Working with Atmosphere Press was a joy. It went beyond my expectations. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. I’m a natural-born worrier and a perfectionist. It could have gone terribly wrong, but it didn’t. And that is because the staff wanted me to succeed. They understood the anxiety that comes with the monumental importance of getting a book out in the world, an event which could never be understood except by fellow members of the tribe. That said, it’s also a business which automatically conflicts with the right side of my brain. I accept that this is part of the process, a necessary and valuable part that is an alternative to the archaic world of traditional publishing.

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