The Year The Swallows Came Early: Day 2

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I jokingly say to myself that I want to be a stay at home mom. You know, one with a scrumptious dinner on the table every night, a perfectly cleaned house at all times, no laundry to catch up on during the weekends.

Maybe the Lord didn't grant me that wish because He knew that I was meant to be a teacher. I decided on that vocation when I was in third grade, and I've never really varied. (Okay, I've entertained the occasional fantasy about working at a Chanel counter, but who am I kidding? I'd take home all my earnings in product!)

The characters in The Swallows Came Early, the young girls to be specific, each have their own very clear idea of what they want to be when they grow up. Groovy yearns to go to cooking school, to be a chef. Her friend, Marisol, yearns to be an artist. One of the beautiful parts of the book is when Groovy makes chocolate covered strawberries to sell at her friend's restaurant, gives up the idea in her despair, and is brought back to it when she sees that Marisol has decorated them with tiny swallows made with white chocolate and a toothpick...

I was delighted to discover that our author, Kathryn Fitzmaurice, was also once a teacher. She visited my blog before the tour began, and we struck up a bit of a conversation. She asked if she could interview me, to which I thought, "Hey! Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" Apparently, she's going to post an interview with me on her blog, but before she does, let me post the few questions that I asked her.

Bellezza: What grade did you teach? Did you leave teaching in order to write?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: I taught first, second, and third grades. One year, I had a 2/3 combination class. I left teaching to write and be at home with my two boys. I remember the first day they went to off school that September. I turned on my computer at 9;00am, and wrote, Chapter One, Coconut Flakes. Then I worked until I had the first paragraph. The next couple of days I read it over and wondered if it was enough to give me an entire story.

Bellezza: How did you get the idea for this novel?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: When I sat down to write the story; I had two ideas in mind. The first was that I wanted to include the swallows because I have always been amazed at how they return to same spot at the same time each year. Their annual migration reminds me of a promise that can’t be broken. Also, I wanted to write about how my own grandmother had left me a big box of unfinished manuscripts when she passed away, which has always been a huge inspiration for me to someday write my own story. My grandmother was a science fiction author, and so ever since I was very young, I knew I wanted to try to write a story of my own. It took about three years to get this one finished.

Bellezza: When a child is hurting from his or her family life, what advice do you have other than the most critical: to forgive?

Kathryn Fitzmaurice: Well I think every child’s disappointment is very different, but sometimes, it’s probably best to just support the child, but also not to push, maybe even leave them alone until they can come to whatever opinion they need to in their own time. I don’t think you can force anyone into the place of forgiveness. It has to come when it’s ready.

I can see that she has chosen a perfect career for herself: educator turned author. That way, she can bless those who read her books as much as those who would have been in her classroom.A Christian Worldview of Fiction, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Booking Mama, Cafe of Dreams, Fireside Musings, Homeschool Buzz, Hyperbole, KidzBookBuzz.com, Looking Glass Reviews, Maw Books Blog, Never Jam Today, Novel Teen, Reading is My Superpower


Other stops along the tour can be found here: