An Interview With Author Dana McGarry
Please tell us a little about yourself and your latest book.
I always enjoyed business-related writing and thought a non-fiction self-help book, with life-lessons I learned along the way, would be a fun project. But, as often happens when you put yourself out there, I discovered another path and took it: I developed the characters and stories for a TV pilot that is set in the fashion world of 1970s New York. As they say “Write what you know.” I’m a native of Long Island, and between attending school and working, I spent twenty-two years in Manhattan.
At some point, I realized that the main character, Dana McGarry, needed more drama and the plots had to be developed, and I felt the best way to do that was to further develop the story in a novel. A Very Good Life, inspired by the pilot and first season, was published in 2014. . My new novel, What Might Have Been, is based on season two.
What Might Have Been focuses on the personal and professional challenges of newly divorced Dana McGarry. Dana is a fashion buyer at one of New York’s most glamorous department stores, Dana McGarry is a tastemaker, her keen instinct for fashion trends and innovative ideas coupled with a razor sharp business sense. But like the elegant and conservative store that employs her, Dana is caught between two eras—between being liked and standing her ground, between playing by the rules and being a maverick. Dana is sensitive and beautiful, but what you see is not what you get. Behind the cool and attractive facade, Dana is both driven by her need to control yet impeded by her expectation of perfectionism. As she competes to replace women at the top of their game, she is challenged by jealous colleagues. And when a wealthy love interest wants to open doors and support her ambition, she embraces Coco Chanel’s mantra of “never wanting to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.” As the women’s movement paves the way, Dana finds a path to the career she wants at the expense of happiness that will have to wait.
How did you come up with the title of your latest book?
Dana makes a difficult choice, and, as we all know, when we make one decision over another, there comes a time when we think what if, what might have been.
What is your favorite character of your latest book?
Dana McGarry, the protagonist who drives the series
What genre do you enjoy writing the most and why?
Contemporary fiction.
How would you describe your writing style?
Since I tend to write cinematically, my style is descriptive.
What authors inspire your writing? Do you have a mentor?
Since I am an Anglophile, my favorite authors tend to be British, and one of my favorites is Ian McEwan.
What would you like to be if you weren’t a writer?
I have an active business career, and discovered writing and creating just five years ago.
What are you working on now?
I am working on the pilot script for the Dana McGarry series, and then will get to book three. If readers would like to see Dana and her story on the screen, I would so appreciate their comments in an Amazon review!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what you know and love, and don’t worry about style and grammar. That’s why we have editors!
If you have to choose only one book to keep, knowing the others would be destroyed, which one would you save?
Wow…difficult question. I’ll say Ian McEwan’s Atonement….
ABOUT THE BOOK
As a fashion buyer at one of New York’s most glamorous department stores, Dana McGarry is a tastemaker, her keen instinct for fashion trends and innovative ideas coupled with a razor sharp business sense. But like the elegant and conservative store that employs her, Dana is caught between two eras—between being liked and standing her ground, between playing by the rules and being a maverick. Dana is sensitive and beautiful, but what you see is not what you get. Behind the cool and attractive facade, Dana is both driven by her need to control yet impeded by her expectation of perfectionism. As she competes to replace women at the top of their game, she is challenged by jealous colleagues. And when a wealthy love interest wants to open doors and support her ambition, she embraces Coco Chanel’s mantra of “never wanting to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.” As the women’s movement paves the way, Dana finds a path to the career she wants at the expense of happiness that was not meant to be.
Steward captures the nuances of 70s life in New York City and provides the perfect backdrop for an independent woman determined to make her mark. What Might Have Been is a story that transcends any period.
Title: What Might Have Been
Genre: Literary fiction/women’s fiction
Author: Lynn Steward
Website: www.LynnSteward.com
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/What-Might-Have-Been-McGarry-ebook/dp/B00U8CR2KG
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lynn Steward, a veteran of the New York fashion industry and a buyer on the team that started the women’s department at Brooks Brothers, created the Dana McGarry series, set at a transformational time in the 1970s world of fashion and in the lives of multigenerational women. What Might Have Been is the second volume in the series. A Very Good Life, Steward’s debut novel, was published in March 2014.
LynnSteward.com
Pinterest.com/LynnStewardny
Facebook.com/LynnStewardnyc
Twitter: @LynnStewardNY
