A Conversation with Flynn Connolly

Author of The Rising of the Moon The Nun Scene The Basement Scene Connolly's web site

The story takes place in a future Ireland, ruled by the iron fist of the Church. Women have been forced back into the traditional roles of subservient wife and mother, forbidden to control their reproduction or make any significant move without the approval of male relatives. Nuala Dennehy, returning after long exile in Scotland, gets drawn into an underground resistance movement, and becomes a reluctant leader.

Connolly's rendering of the growing rebellions and their development into a full-fledged revolution, uniting not only women but the working class as well, is breathtaking in its detail and scope. The various forces that ally against the church are portrayed with skillful realism, and the evilness of the state's enforcers come alive with terrifying emotional force. Nuala herself, possessing humanizing faults and anxieties along with her bravery and wit, lives and breathes as a character -- so much so that the end of the novel feels like a farewell to a beloved friend.

Sadly, The Rising of the Moon is currently out of print. We hope that a wise publisher will bring it back in a new incarnation, so it can infuse its vision of optimism and possibility into the hearts of a new crop of readers. Write to Del Rey to let them know they should re-print it.

- Stephanie McMillan

Two Eyes recently spoke with Ms. Connolly by e-mail:

TE: You once mentioned that in science fiction we can create ideal places, such as a country where women are safe, and make them real, at least on the page. What are some of your favorite novels that do this?

FC: I vaguely remember saying that stuff about how in SF we can create ideal places for women, etc., but I don't think I've ever read a novel like that. I wrote one, the sequel to The Rising of the Moon, but it hasn't been published. So I guess the answer is, I don't have any favorite novels that do that. If you know of any, by all means, let me know; I'd love to read them. The truth is, I don't read much SF, although I write it. My tastes in reading are eclectic, I suppose is the word.

I read feminist mysteries for fun (favorite authors: Nevada Barr, Marcia Muller, Miriam Grace Monfredo, Sara Paretsky, Katherine V. Forrest, and Carol O'Connell), and a lot of feminist nonfiction (history and spirituality), and of course anything about Irish history, culture, and Celtic pagan (pre-Christian) spirituality. For the sheer joy of reading, no one beats PG Wodehouse. I do love Connie Willis, who writes in the SF field; her To Say Nothing of the Dog is a particular favorite, as it is an homage to a classic I have always adored: Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome.

I hated honors English class in high school (I remember thinking, why are we reading all these old, dead men who are so damned DEPRESSING?), and so have avoided reading many classics over the years, afraid they would all be as bad as Hemingway, whom I despised in high school (his obsession with old men and death--please, get over it!). But I make exceptions for Steinbeck (who wrote about things that actually mattered), The Three Musketeers (I love swordfights and what a great story!), and Dracula (without Dracula, we would have no Buffy!). For love of language and envy of the writer's skill with words, I read Pat Conroy and sigh.

My short list of the best books ever written (in no order):

East of Eden
The Grapes of Wrath
To Kill a Mockingbird
Angela's Ashes
The Women's Room
Six of One by Rita Mae Brown
Mists of Avalon
Elmer Gantry, Sinclair Lewis
anything by PG Wodehouse

Not one of those is SF, though Mists of Avalon is shelved in that section in bookstores. I've never thought about it before, but I suppose if they have anything in common (other than Wodehouse, who is just fun), it would be that they all comment on political themes, the injustices humans do to each other, and trying to cling to hope and dignity. That's what the best writing always does. ... Is that profound enough?

TE: Are there certain books that have particularly inspired you?

FC: The Women's Room and Beyond Power, both by Marilyn French, opened my eyes to feminism in a way nothing else had before. I don't remember now who said it or where I read it (maybe in The Women's Room?), but someone said something like: "Once your eyes are opened, you can't ever not see again." That's what Marilyn French did for me. Now, since I read those two, I can't understand how anyone can NOT be a feminist. It's not just a matter of opinion, it's the way life just IS.

Other books I read at about the same time, also inspiring, were The Politics of Women's Spirituality and The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth. I had been a devout (in my own way) Christian in my teen years, but soon saw how patriarchy has always abused women, and discarded it. When I discovered that judeo-christianity was not the "way things had always been," I was both relieved to learn that women once were considered sacred, and angry that patriarchal religions have ground us down for so long--and we allow it by going along with it! I have been delighted to see how quickly paganism and Wicca are spreading, and I read a lot of books on those subjects too, trying to weed out the fluffy/foofy stuff from what feels "real" to me.

In researching the novel I have just finished (the first draft of, anyway), I read books on the subjects of shamanism, soul fracture and healing, vampire myths around the world, and a wonderful book called After Silence: Rape & My Journey Back, by Nancy Venable Raine.

TE: What do you think books contribute to the possibility of social change?

FC: Well ... someone has to imagine it or it will never happen. And that is the purpose and the cause of/for writers. We (she said humbly) are the ones who point the way, whatever we write, fiction or history or spirituality or outrage or hope. That's how I feel about writing: anything else is a waste of my time. Which is why I'm now planning to go back to school--AGAIN!--to finish a Master's. Not in linguistics, which is what I studied before, but an MFA in English. I'll never have the ability with words that Pat Conroy has and maybe I'll never move people the way Marilyn French or Frank McCourt or Harper Lee have, but writing is what I do, it's what I care about, it's what I must spend my time here accomplishing. There is no other reason to be alive.

TE: Do you believe that a revolution such as you described in Moon is possible?

FC: Anything is possible. Do I believe it's likely? No. Not a violent overthrowing of the American government-type revolution. At least not in my lifetime. Maybe if humans don't destroy ourselves and/or our planet, maybe, maybe hundreds of years from now ... who knows? One of the reasons I love Star Trek (yes, I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a Trekker--but I really only love Classic Trek and adore Deep Space Nine), is that it shows a future where humans are still far from perfect, but they have evolved enough to straighten out life on Earth, at least. (Of course that happens only after a devastating Third World War and then contact with the Vulcans, a much smarter species, but it happens. But I digress.)

Humans have a LONG way to go, millennia of patriarchy to overcome. Can we overcome it? I want very much to believe so. But changing the minds/beliefs of six billion people is a daunting task, to put it mildly. In the sequel to Moon, Danu's Green Shore, a few hundred women are exiled to another world and have to create a new civilization. That's only a few hundred people, not six billion. And besides being feminists and sharing similar experiences, of course they don't agree on much, because they're human. (It would be a pretty boring story if everyone agreed and got along.) Before they have a chance to start, other problems arise, which they have to work together to overcome.

Maybe that's what humans need: a common problem. What would unite six billion people? Global warming hasn't done it. Alien invasion, maybe? What would it take to open humanity's eyes, to make us see that we are all in this together, that to abuse one is to make all suffer? No religion has convinced us of that so far. No patriarchal religion ever will, since it debases half the species.

Do we need a new religion? (Or as in the case of paganism, a very old one?) Or do we need to abandon religion altogether and start thinking rationally? But if we think with only our minds and not our souls, where does that leave us? I don't know. But that's one of the wonderful (best) things about writing, especially science fiction: you get to play around with the Big Questions.

So, do I believe a revolution is possible? Possible, yes. But as long as too many people are too comfortable, it won't happen. Comfort equals apathy, I'm afraid. We need to get mad. The recent debacle that put Shrub the Usurper in the White House by Supreme Decree is a start, I hope. How can any rational person not be outraged by that? By the fact that, one of Shrub's first actions was to cut funding to any international organizations that have anything to do with abortion, thereby threatening the lives of millions of women? How can that not infuriate intelligent people? But will outrage translate to action? And what action? A revolution? When we are so disorganized and scattered?

My problem is, I'm both an idealist and a cynic at the same time. (I may be schizophrenic, but I'll always have each other.) I do believe, passionately, in a lot of causes, but I don't have a very high opinion of the human race. (I much prefer the company of dogs and cats.) So I want to believe that humans will finally get angry enough to change society, but what will they replace it with, being human?

So first I get angry, I latch onto a glimmer of hope when I see others getting angry at the same things I do, then I get tired and depressed when idiots like Shrub steal the highest Office in the world and wreak havoc. Then I get angry again. It's exhausting.

TE: Do you find hope in the current rise of progressive activism?

FC: Oh yes. What else is there to find hope in? If enough of us get angry, angry enough to do ... anything ... then maybe we can accomplish something, fight back. The WTO protests here in Seattle were a wonderful start.

I'm a big believer in anger. It's one of the themes of the novel I'm working on now. One of the characters is a shaman, a woman who works with rape survivors, to help them heal their fractured souls. At one point she tells the main character: "The Christians may speak of forgiveness, and forgiveness may have its place, but sometimes only anger will do. I don't mean the kind of frozen acidic rage that merely eats away at you; that kind only harms you. I mean the kind of anger that prompts you finally to say 'Enough!' The kind of anger that can focus you on action, make you refuse to be mistreated any longer. That is the kind of productive anger that can change your perspective completely." She adds that "a righteous, radicalized anger can change the world."

She's speaking for me there. We need to get mad, we need to speak out (either in print or by taking to the streets, both are needed. As Spock said, "Each according to his gifts.") We need to VOTE. We need to keep a close eye on our elected officials and tell them we're watching, give them our opinions, praise them and scold them and never, never let them get away with anything outrageous without comment, and remember what they've done, come election time.

We need to read. How can we decide what kind of society we prefer, if we don't think about it? (I know you'll ask, so here's what I read, every month if I can: Mother Jones, The Nation, Utne Reader, In These Times, Irish America, Ms, and anything else that comes in to the library where I work that looks interesting). We need to do everything we can to NOT harm our world (for gods' sake, at least RECYCLE and conserve energy--California needs it. Sorry, a bit of Washington State bitterness there. California regularly ticks us off up here.)

And the best thing any human can do: DON'T REPRODUCE! With six billion humans overburdening our planet, there is no moral excuse for having more than one child, and none is even better. Don't tell me what wonderful people your children are and how they can grow up to help society. They still use up resources just by existing. Okay, I'm rambling, off-track. But once I get started on my soapbox ...

TE: Do you participate in the movement in any other capacity beyond writing?

FC: Well, I do all of the above. My other problem is, I'm a loner, not a joiner. I don't even belong to a writer's group, though my work could certainly use the help, because I don't like groups. I'm what the pagans/Wiccans call a Solitary. But Solitaries have our place too. We are watching. And we have voices.

Although I'm not a joiner, I do pay dues and give donations to causes I believe in: Greenpeace, People for the American Way, Planned Parenthood, NOW, Nature Conservancy, Humane Society, and Zero Population Growth. I guess that makes me a joiner, but a solitary one? There's that schizo part of me again.

TE: What was the process of Moon getting published? Did you learn anything from that experience that you'd like to share with new writers?

FC: The way Moon got published was this: Norwescon is a science fiction convention held in the Seattle area every year. I submitted a few chapters of Moon to the writing workshop, went to the workshop, and met Tom King, one of the two "pros" who had volunteered to help with the workshop. He liked my chapters so much that he asked to see the entire manuscript. Of course I said yes, and mailed it to him in Oregon. His wife, Paula Downing, who has published several SF novels, got to it before he did, and liked it so much she wrote and asked me if she could recommend it to her editor at Del Rey. Of course I said yes. The editor at Del Rey liked it and wanted to publish it. Of course I said yes. That's how Moon came to be published.

The bottom line: I got lucky. And I listened to myself when I was writing and when receiving criticism. The other "pro" at the workshop, who shall remain nameless, was a twit. She had nothing good to say about Moon and plenty to say about what was wrong with it. I disagreed with everything she said, so I ignored it. I've been writing long enough, and have taken writing classes where giving and receiving criticism is the main reason for being there, so I know good, helpful advice when I hear it, and I heed it. But when I know it's wrong, I ignore it.

When my editor at Del Rey made suggestions, they were good ones, and I used them, made changes that improved the book. I am always grateful for such advice, and I do listen carefully. But I know what's right for my story and what isn't. (I don't know how I know, I just do. Who knows the story and characters better than I do, after all?)

So that's a bit of advice I would share with new writers: listen to all advice/criticism respectfully and gratefully, but then decide for yourself what works and what doesn't, and proceed from there on your own. Just because you're new, doesn't necessarily mean you're wrong. Always listen to advice, especially from people who have been writing for a long time; they might know something. But in the end, only you can decide what's right for your story.

And don't be so naive (as I was) to think that, once you've published that first novel, you're on your way and it will all be easy from then on. Ha! I haven't been able to publish another one since Moon, though I've written three more novels. You need a good agent, is what I'm finding, and the right one for you. I haven't found that right one yet. The one who was recommended to me by a successful author, has not proven to be of any help at all.

So another bit of advice for new writers: take your time in finding an agent, and find the right one. Don't just take the first one who agrees to represent you, because you're so grateful that anyone would. Find the right one. If it doesn't seem to be working, try again with someone else. Don't waste your time, as I did, on someone who isn't interested in your work.

TE: What would you say is the current position of writers in this society?

FC: Well, I'm hardly an expert, but since I'm a writer, of course I think writers aren't paid enough. We (most of us) have to work at some other job to pay the rent, which steals time away from our real work, writing, so we live a life of frustration. At least I do. If this were utopia, then writers would be subsidized while they're writing (it takes TIME to finish a publishable work, and we have to pay the rent in the meantime).

And of course we would have more clout with publishers. Publishing is a business, and all publishers really care about is how much profit they can make. I work in a bookstore, part-time, so I see that end of it too. Books are just "units" to be sold or returned--or have their covers ripped off and then the book is THROWN AWAY! AACK! Those are some of the realities of publishing.

With new technology, e-books, printing on demand at bookstores, maybe some of that will change, but I don't know yet whether that will be good or bad for writers. Of course I think writers should be treated with much more respect. In ancient Ireland, poets had more clout that kings. When and where has that ever been the case since?

There are all kinds of writing, and all kinds of writers, and all are essential. I'm partial to The Big Themes (which is why I write science fiction), but where would we be without writers of history, philosophy, political science--and mysteries and romances?

During the Depression, films were an escape from the horrible realities of life (I'm thinking of Fred Astaire films and other musicals, as well as screwball comedies). Fiction can serve that purpose too. I don't read (or like) romance novels, but obviously a LOT of people do, so they have their place, they serve some function by offering escape or vicarious pleasure to those who like that sort of thing. Life is pretty grim.

Writing can offer provocative ideas on how to better society--and it can offer escape, when you just need a few hours off from all that reality. What other profession can do so much for so many? Films? TV? Sure, but somebody had to write the scripts. Even if you can't afford to buy books, there is always the public library (thank the gods and Andrew Carnegie). There's no better bargain than the public library.

So what's the current position of writers in society? Not high enough.

TE: What are some of the obstacles writers face, especially when someone writes socially conscious or political material? Do you feel that there are particular obstacles faced by women writers?

FC: Getting published! Making a living writing! If a publisher doesn't think your work will make him money, forget about it; it ain't gonna happen. If your work is socially conscious or political? Or you're female? Same thing. If the publisher doesn't think it will make money, you won't get it published. There are other avenues, more all the time with the internet, of getting your work into print or online, but again, writers have to pay the rent.

If you're independently wealthy, so you don't have to consider such mundane things as rent and food, then you can devote your time to purely literary pursuits and rejoice when your work is published in some obscure journal somewhere that pays you with a free copy or two. Fair play to you. I envy you that, wishing I was in that position.

With the rise of the Insidious Idiots of the Right Wing, and publishing houses being gobbled up and consolidated into the hands of a few powerful men, the future of getting published could be very grim. I hope that the new technologies will help combat that, enabling writers to have more forums than ever before ... but how will we pay the rent? I wish I had the answer to that one.

TE: Do you ever have trouble getting motivated to write, or feel like giving up? What do you tell yourself then, to keep yourself going?

FC: Well, I read somewhere that writers, as a group, tend to have more problems with depression than other people. I find that very easy to believe. In what other profession do you face so much constant rejection? And (to beat an already dead horse), it's so damned HARD to keep going at a "career" that you never have time for, since you have to waste most of your life at another job. Why do I do it? What else am I going to do? It's the only thing that matters. I have no other reason for being alive.

And, as hard and frustrating as it can be, there is nothing like those rare occasions when it all comes together, the writing flows out of nowhere, and characters you create come alive on the page. I never know what they're going to say or do next, and I have to find out. I like the people I write about; I enjoy their company. They're smarter than I am, certainly more courageous, and they always think of the right things to say at just the right moment--not an hour later, when it's too late.

And since I write science fiction, I get to meet people who can do things that no one I've ever met can do: turn into a crow, read minds, mesmerize an enemy with a glance, knock a would-be rapist across the room with one punch. That is fun stuff. And in the midst of all of that fun stuff, I can sneak in things I really want to talk about: revolution, resistance, using anger to regain your self-respect, standing your ground and saying "No more!" Damn, I love to write. It's why I'm alive.

TE: You mentioned in your last message that you've written three novels in addition to Moon. I knew about Danu's Green Shore and Blood Kin; what is the third?

FC: The other novel I've written was called A Night Devoid of Stars. My agent rejected it without any ideas on how to fix it, so it sits in my closet, languishing. It is very long (I just can't seem to write short novels) about slavery, rebellion, and fencing. It's set on a planet called Xasya, which was settled long ago by colonists from Earth. It's a repressive society, no freedom of speech, slavery props up the government, and fencing (swordfighting of all kinds) is the most popular sport.

The main character (Edana) is a rebel who is captured and "memory wiped" and sentenced to slavery, but she is purchased (saved) by another rebel who owns a brothel (Zsofia). The brothel serves some of the most powerful men in the government, so Zsofia knows all the secrets, and is pretty powerful herself. She is part of the underground. Zsofia admires Edana's courage and her skill with words (she wrote anti-government diatribes before being memory-wiped), so she wants to protect her.

The other characters are a rich, spoiled (dying) woman who owns the main male character, Iago, who is the greatest fencer on Xasya. He meets Edana, learns to read, and well ... a lot of stuff happens (it's a LONG book). In the end, the good guys influence the underground anti-slavery, anti-government movement, an election pushes things in the right direction, and there is hope for the future.

I had fun writing that book. It's a pity my agent didn't like it. Maybe my new agent, when I find one, can do something with it. I hope so.

TE: What is your connection to Ireland?

FC: A person from Ireland would probably say that I have none, as I've never been there, and my family has been here for many generations (since the Famine). I don't know why I feel so strongly about Ireland; I just do. Is it a racial memory? Memories of a past life I can't remember? I don't know. I just know that once I started reading Irish history (during my adolescence in the 70's, when I could admire but not identify with Black pride, Chicano pride, etc. and thus started searching for my own identity), I was hooked. I WILL make it to Ireland someday, when I come up with the money.

I don't know or care what part of Ireland my family came from; I have no allegiance to one county over another. I want to visit everywhere, see it all, and learn to speak more Irish than the tiny bit I know now, so I should visit the Gaeltachtai. Of course, once I get there, I won't want to come back. If I ever become successful as a writer ($$$), maybe I could move there.

I have a video called "Over Ireland," which was filmed in the skies over most of the country, showing the scenery, which is, naturally, the most beautiful in the world except for one thing: NO TREES! Ireland used to be almost entirely wooded, but the trees were cut down over the centuries. If I were obscenely rich, I would buy land in Ireland, a lot of land, and plant native trees. That's my own little dream. Sigh.

TE: Do you think writing can be a form of therapy?

FC: Of course! If I have any sanity left, it's only because I write. When you create characters, you can have them do anything you want, whatever you can't do in your own life for whatever reason. You can create entire societies, religions, languages. That can be both an escape (if you hate your own life, you can escape into this other world) and a blueprint for improving your own life/society. Since I write science fiction, I can do both.

You can use anything you've ever learned: Irish history in Moon, linguistics in Danu's Green Shore (I created a language), fencing styles in Night Devoid of Stars, shamanism and vampires and Irish mythology in Blood Kin, and it's an excuse to do research, to learn more. If I'm not learning something new all the time, I feel stagnant, like I'm wasting my life and time.

Writing novels leads me to new things, new areas to research. That slows down the writing (I have to figure out how to write faster), but it's fascinating to spend time in a library or bookstore looking up stuff you know nothing about. You should see my bookshelves at home--I've outgrown my living space. Do I really need that new book about Ireland? About shamanism? About fencing or kendo? Of course! Now I just have to find the time to read them all.

When you write, you can work through anger (or learn how to use it), remember things you thought you had forgotten, herd your ideas into some form of goal and figure out a plan on how to achieve it. You can play with language, drive yourself nuts trying to describe something indescribable, create your own beauty, scream out your anguish and outrage at injustice, exhort yourself and others to act ... Writing can do almost anything. I would be nothing without it.