Therese Walsh

Therese Walsh is the author of the newly released debut novel, The Last Will of Moira Leahy. From a Q & A at her website:

Q: Many families encounter guilt, deception, and loss. Were you interested in these themes before you began working on the book? What interested you in them? (Irene McGarrity)

TW: When I first sat down to write this story in 2002, I didn’t have a single thing planned regarding theme, but by the time I started the big rewrite in 2005, I understood that this book was about acceptance. To fully explore acceptance, I had to explore its opposite; denial can and does lead to things like deception, loss, guilt and more.

I don’t know why acceptance became the main theme. Maybe because I’m an introvert and somewhat of a social nerd. Or maybe it’s just what the book needed.

Q: The Last Will of Moira Leahy is the tale of a woman's journey, both physical and emotional. As Maeve explores Rome, she also explores her relationships with others and her understanding of herself. Did you envision both of these journeys from the beginning, or did one grow out of the other as the story developed? (Amy Atwell)

TW: Both, actually. When I began writing this story in 2002, I was a total “pantser,” meaning I let the plot unfold however the muse thought it should. It was partly because of this, and because this was my first attempt at writing long fiction, that the story turned into a bit of a mess. When I decided, in 2005, to completely rework the story, I knew that the physical and emotional journeys fit together; that much had emerged in the first version. I planned things more purposefully the second time around, though, and used an outline.

Read more of the Q & A.

--Marshal Zeringue