A Chat with Debut Novelist Martha O'Connor

by Jennifer Minar

Martha O'Connor is getting plenty of buzz for her intense debut novel, The Bitch Posse. Coined “anti-chick lit” by some, her novel centers around the bond shared by three troubled girls and delves into some intensely dark issues.

Publisher's Weekly writes: “The story fascinates even as it repels.” Marie Claire says that it's “An angsty, serious novel of lost dreams and sexual damage.” Author Edmund White goes on to say that it's a debut worthy of Joyce Carol Oates.

In this Q&A, O'Connor shares with WritersBreak.com her road to publication, what writing means to her, and answers whether being published is everything she dreamed it would be. She also shares a piece of solid advice for aspiring novelists.

Was it difficult for you to find an agent? Please explain your process in finding one.

I actually had an agent for a previous novel of mine, a very light mystery with a young, sassy sleuth... a novel which I believed met all the current needs of today's publishing world. I had completely faked out the market! I was sure it would sell quickly, making me rich AND famous. My then-agent thought so too. However, by February 2003 the novel had been rejected by 10 publishers, and my then-agent informed me we were running out of options.

To distract myself, I decided to write something new. Much to my surprise, what poured out of me wasn't a mystery; it wasn't at all lighthearted; and it was unlike most anything I'd seen being marketed to women. It was raw, vicious and gritty, in a deliciously, darkly compelling way. Writing it was an addiction, sometimes an all-night one.

Fifty pages into the novel, I handed it to my husband, also a writer and my first and best reader. He said, "Martha, you have to keep going with this. It's the best thing you've ever written." Wow! But brilliant me, I felt I needed some "industry feedback." I decided to show the pages to my then-agent before proceeding. Knowing that what I'd written was quite different from the other novel, I was a little nervous.

I heard back from her in about a week. She said, "Oh, Martha, this is far too dark. It really isn't the type of book you ought to be writing. It's just too gritty and I can't imagine who the audience would be. Why don't you write another light mystery?"

Wow. Somehow I didn't expect that reaction to something I knew far surpassed anything I had ever done before.

Well, after some tears and anger, I decided I couldn't abandon Rennie, Amy, and Cherry when they were wrapped up in so much trouble. The girls were chomping at the bit for me to let them run wild, anyway.

And run they did. Everywhere and anywhere they wanted to go. What was so magical about this experience is that because I didn't think anyone would ever publish this book, I was able to write the novel with the censors firmly OFF. I wrote it for me.

This is all a very LONG way of saying that after the first draft and revisions were done, I sent out the novel to various agents who seemed to enjoy dark, different novels. Within two weeks I had several offers, and I signed with Mary Evans.

How long did it take you to write this book? Did you have a writing schedule?

The first draft poured out of me in six weeks. I wrote almost all the time I wasn't taking care of the family, eating, working, or sleeping. I remember writing all night at times. No schedule, I just wrote until I was spent.

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