Fireflies in the Proverbial Magic Mayo

Meira Pentermann is an author of three books that seem to have little to do with each other. Firefly Beach is a supernatural mystery involving found diary of a girl missing for 20 years, while Nine-Tenths is a dystopian political thriller where the United States has fallen to a Communist dictatorship. More recently, she wrote Sarah and the Magic Mayonnaise Jar, a children’s book about a miraculous condiment container.

Mrs. Pentermann talked with the Brophisticate from her home in Colorado about her work and life.

Brophisticate: You’ve published three books now. What wisdom have your garnered from the time your published your first?

Meira Pentermann: When I wrote my first full-length manuscript in 2004, the entrance to the traditional publishing world seemed like a sixty-foot wall around a well-secluded castle. I spent years trying to unlock the secrets of querying agents and intriguing publishing companies. In 2009, “Firefly Beach” was published by a small publishing outfit in New York. Under contract with them for three years, the book sold a few hundred copies. In the meantime, I wrote and self-published “Nine-Tenths” in 2011. At that point, self-publishing was gaining momentum and respect. . . and it was fun! So when “Firefly Beach” came off contract in 2012, I didn’t even hesitate. I republished it with a new cover and some minor changes. As a self-published book, this novel has exceeded my wildest dreams in sales, popularity, and reviews. I would recommend self-publishing to any aspiring author as long as they seek the advice of beta readers and editing professionals.

What I have learned about myself truly surprises me. I never thought I could take rejection without internalizing it to the point of despair. If you would have told me six years ago that the little story about a firefly would receive fifty curt rejection letters and flop during its first round of publishing, I never would have bothered to write it. Too painful. Now I know that it doesn’t matter how many people don’t believe in me, the most important thing is that I believe in myself and trust that God’s plan and what’s “meant to be” will unfold, as long as I keep plugging along doing what I believe is right.

“Nine-Tenths”” has been compared to “1984” and “Atlas Shrugged”. As with those books, was your tale written as a warning to our own modern society?

I am very flattered when someone throws “Nine-Tenths” into the vicinity of those classic novels. It’s a tall order to fill. I doubt “Nine-Tenths” quite measures up, but it is an honor all the same.

Yes, I did write it for those very reasons. In fact, I was compelled to write it – driven by the story even though I knew I would be far more successful writing another cozy mystery. At the time, I became obsessed with the history of East Germany and even more obsessed with what I believe are disturbing trends within our government. At the time, I did not know about the NSA’s extensive data mining, which is spooky given the focus of the novel. After studying the history of the Soviet Union, and particularly East Germany, Leonard’s world of endless surveillance was a natural extrapolation of current events.

At least in American pop culture, everyone knows how horrible the Nazis were but when it comes to the history of Communism, I find most people are unaware that at least 100 million lives were lost at their hands. Do you find this to be true and if so, did you find yourself working extra hard to convey to your readers the true threat the movement posed?

I totally agree! Not to diminish the importance of learning about the Holocaust, but a more balanced education should include information about the Bolshevik Revolution, Stalin’s Great Purge, the Ukrainian Holocaust, Mao’s Great Leap Forward, Che Guevara’s Firing Squads, the Berlin Wall, and the many other failures and atrocities of communism. This is especially important because all of these events happened within the last one hundred years. Individuals were being tortured in the Hohenschoenhausen prison and shot trying to cross the Iron Curtain as recently as thirty years ago.

Can you imagine people wearing Hitler t-shirts as enthusiastically as they don the face of Che or Mao?

I chose to model Leonard’s world after East Germany for the precise reason of conveying something close to reality. It is not at all outrageous. Just taking one example of the insanity of communism, the history of the Berlin Wall is absolutely riveting (in a late night, page-turning, jaw-dropping sort of way). Bales of barbed wire, followed by a single layer of bricks, eventually grew into the monstrosity that it became. You could stretch that analogy across all shocking events in history – every wall starts with a few bricks.

What was the impetus to write “Firefly Beach”?
“Firefly Beach” developed in stages before it took off in my brain and wouldn’t leave me alone. I first envisioned the firefly in 2004 when my husband and I were on a retreat. We participated in a relaxation seminar. The instructor asked us to imagine a very safe and quiet space – a room, a meadow, whatever came to mind. I pictured a small beach secluded by high cliffs. But, honestly, relaxation exercises and I do not do well together. Thoughts run around in my brain in spite of my efforts to quiet them. Shortly after arriving at my special beach, a firefly joined me dancing around the cliff. Then a diary and the idea that it belonged to a long-lost girl.

That concept drifted to the back of my mind while I worked on another manuscript from January of 2004 through February of 2007. As soon as I declared that manuscript finished, the firefly returned to me, flooding me with ideas. I could not write them down fast enough. I realized that Beth’s story was far more compelling than the words I had labored over for three years. At that moment, the old manuscript found its way to a shelf in the back of my closet, and I passionately dove into “Firefly Beach”.

The diary of Katherine reads so well, it seems to come from a real, personal place. Is it based on a real event or are you just that good of a writer?

LOL! Well, I was a teenager in the 1970s and I did write in journals, but my life was boring compared to Katherine’s.

When I am writing a story, I do tap into personal experiences as well as physical descriptions or personality traits of someone I’ve met, but no one character represents any specific individual, certainly not myself. That would be too embarrassing. Sometimes an experience, even a chance encounter, inspires an individual or a snippet of dialogue, but for the most part it is made up. For example, I do not talk to insects 🙂

It may sound a bit wacky, but I often feel like a story comes as a gift. I don’t really make it up; it is bestowed upon me. When the ideas emerge from what feels like absolutely nowhere, I can’t help but feel divinely touched.

Your latest release is called “Sarah and the Magic Mayonnaise Jar.” How was writing a children’s book compared to your adult works?

This book was so enjoyable to write, very refreshing. It all started when I walked my daughter to school in 2006. In order to keep up the pace, I told her stories. She has an insatiable appetite for adventure. I wrote the first draft at her request. It went through many revisions before I solicited beta readers – third, fourth, and fifth graders. More revisions followed. Then I put it away and worked on something else. At the time I was told that the book had “too many words” to be a chapter book and “not enough words” to qualify as middle grade fiction.

Thankfully, today’s authors can publish outside of the box.

My daughter is now in middle school. A couple of years ago, she expressed her grave disappointment in the fact that “Sarah and the Magic Mayonnaise Jar” was never published, so not only is she the person who inspired the original story, she is also the person who pushed for publication. I dusted off the manuscript and edited it further. During that time, I found a talented young illustrator, and we produced the finished product in the spring of 2013. It has definitely been a journey. In one word – fun!

Did you have to do any research for any of your books that changed your original vision for where the stories would go?

I can Google Earth a place to death, but nothing can replace going to the location and spending time with people and places. [So] I dragged my husband through the underbrush in Maine [setting for Firefly Beach]. Literally. I did. . . drag him through the underbrush in Maine. And he’s quite pleased to remind me of that fact if I complain about the mosquitoes in our backyard.

Enjoying the hospitality of the gracious women from the Wildfire Inn in Searsport, Maine, we traveled the coast during its most rainy, least flattering season, but it was one of my favorite vacations. Virginia Point was primarily inspired by two coastal towns – Camden and Searsport, Maine.

Research can be painstaking at times, but it is important. So, yes, intuitive first-outline details of a novel will change, but I have to believe research makes a story better.

What’s the greatest feedback you’ve gotten from any of your readers?

It is simple and I never get tired of hearing it. “I really enjoyed the story. I couldn’t put it down!” Sometimes, out of the blue, I get an email or Facebook message from someone who just finished the novel and felt compelled to send me a note. It really makes my day.