I met Bren McClain in 2017 at an author’s luncheon and book signing for her new novel, One Good Mama Bone. At some point, when she was living away, I offered Bren a writing respite at MarshSong Cottage. She never did take me up on it, but we started emailing each other and because we hadn’t memorably yet met in person, we joked that it was like we were pen pals and would address our emails to each other as Dear Pen Pal Bren and Pen Pal Mary Ellen. We finally met when she came to Beaufort for a literary event. Then she moved here, and we have been friends ever since.
Bren had a relatively smooth process of publishing One Good Mama Bone, but the publishing process of her second novel is taking her on a journey she never anticipated, and the outcome still hangs in abeyance. I wanted her to share her story.
Mary Ellen Thompson: You’ve been working on your second novel for how many years now?
Bren McClain
Bren McClain: A long time! I started the research for it in 2005.
MET: Tell us a little about the process – when you started to write One Good Mama Bone, did you already have anyone in place, i.e. a publisher, an agent, a publicist, or did you pretty much navigate that by yourself?
BM: I went in blind. I had tried for a year to get an agent but no one wanted a book about a cow set in a small town. Then Pat Conroy came along and it was literary nirvana.
MET: When you published One Good Mama Bone, which won all kinds of awards, did you experience any significant difficulties in the publishing process?
BM: No, Pat and USC Press knew exactly what to do.
MET: How was it different with this book?
BM: A year after one Good Mama Bone was published, a prominent Southern author gave it to her agent to read. The agent then reached out to me and asked if I had another book in me. When I said yes, she said that when I had fifty good pages, to send them to her. I did and she loved them.
I had recently won the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction and was going to New York City to receive it, so we took that opportunity to meet each other over coffee. She asked me questions about the rest of the story, and wanted to know how it would end. I told her, and she loved that also.
Then she asked me if I was interested in a different kind of publishing experience. When I told her I was open to that opportunity, she explained that it would mean losing total control of some of the key elements, like the title and the cover.
MET: What was your reaction to that?
BM: Since my next novel involves the huge sacrifice 6,000 people made when the federal government, by eminent domain, took their homes and land to build the Savannah River Plant, I’m committed to finding the largest, broadest audience possible. I want the whole world to know about these people and their sacrifice.
Mary Ellen Thompson
MET: What happened next?
BM: The agent then told me that she had heard all that she needed and that she would like to represent me. She told me to take my time and think about it. She knew that since I had just won the award that other agents would reach out to me, which they did. But none held any water, compared to her. Since I’d waited my whole life to sign with an agent, I flew to New York for an in-person signing. She took me out to a wonderful Italian restaurant for lunch and when I ordered a glass of water, she said, “Bren, don’t you want to celebrate with a glass of wine?” So, we had lunch, drank a glass of wine, and I signed the contract.
I sent her the book on New Year’s Day 2024. She came back to me asking for three rounds of heavy edits, the first was length, I don’t remember the second, and the third was she wanted more historical context.
MET: From that point, did it go out to publishers?
BM: Yes, it went out on submission early this year, and one publisher showed interest. But she wanted me to widen the lens, bring in more of the community. She had never heard of the Savannah River Plant and said, “We need this story in this country now.”
(MET: NOTE – The Savannah River Site was built during the 1950s to produce plutonium and tritium for nuclear weapons. https://schumanities.org/speakers/stories-of-sacrifice-from-the-displaced-people-of-the-savannah-river-plant)
MET: You had the story of your main character, Eula Bates, in your heart for ages, you intimately knew her story, you gave her the ending you wanted her to have, how did it personally feel to have to change direction?
BM: I wanted to think about it and see how my body responded; if my body, my mind, my heart, would open up to it. My agent asked me if I would regret this new version of the story in two years. I told her that I would regret it if I didn’t give it a shot. So, I am giving it a shot – and must say, I think the story is stronger. Actually, I’ve fallen in love with it.
MET: Is it getting easier to make these changes as you go along?
BM: I felt like my novel was an ocean liner, and I had to turn it around. First, I had to grieve the loss of my original plan and just overcome the psychological barrier before I could begin to create anew.
MET: Are there any other edits?
BM: The word count has to be cut. Books are getting smaller because of the cost of publishing them and the collapsing attention span of the readers.
MET: Do you feel confident that these changes will be what they want and that you will see a publication date in the near future?
BM: No, there is no guarantee that they will actually offer me a contract.
MET: What was your original working title?
BM: The Miracle of Eula Bates. Just as I did in One Good Mama Bone, I like to take the title from actual words in the book.
MET: What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
BM:
- Put in the time to learn the craft; be patient with yourself.
- Write the book that is yours, and yours alone, to write.
- The work gives back when we give it. When the work knows that you’re serious about it, it gets serious back with you.
MET: Bren, thank you for taking this time with me. I know how deeply dedicated you are, but I also think you are amazingly brave to take all of this on without any sort of assurance that it will be what they want. You have an entire Universe, as well as an enormous team of friends and fans, rooting for you and Eula.
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