Meg Mitchell Moore’s debut novel, THE ARRIVALS --- about the chaos of parenthood when adult children come home to face real-world dilemmas --- is out on May 25. Here, her mother Sara remembers Meg’s favorite childhood authors, and the fact that she always knew she would become a writer.
Did you read to your daughter as a child? What did you read?
My husband was in the Navy and we were stationed overseas, in Spain, when Meg was born. We didn’t have television so we read to our daughters often --- a lot of Dr. Seuss, Mother Goose, Beatrix Potter, and GOODNIGHT MOON. We also discovered Paddington Bear in London and brought him home. And there was William the Dragon, which the girls loved.
Did Meg have a favorite series/author growing up?
She loved the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace, Judy Blume books, and some of the Choose Your Own Adventure books. She reads the Betsy-Tacy books with her own daughters--- they are the same copies, now dog-eared and licorice-stained. (I saved most of the children’s books in case there were grandchildren who might like them.)
Did you have any book or reading rituals in your house?
Reading at bedtime was always done, and sometimes in the car during trips. We moved often and a regular ritual was registering for library cards as soon as the unpacking was done. A reward for getting all the spelling words right one year in elementary school was to go to the bookstore and pick out a book.
When did you know your daughter was going to be a writer?
We always thought she wanted to be a writer, partly because she was such an enthusiastic reader. I remember thinking that she’d never be able to find her way around once she started to drive because she and her sister were always reading in the car.Teachers always commented on her writing --- just recently, when we attended an alumni event at her college (where my husband is also an alum), one of her old English professors told us that he still counts one of the papers she wrote for a class as one of the best undergraduate papers he’s ever graded. We didn’t know for certain that she’d be a fiction writer, but we knew she’d be a writer.
Can you remember Meg’s early writing?
She often wrote little stories when she was young, and gave them as gifts. I remember when my husband received “The Magic Beer and Other Stories” as a Christmas present.
Do you read advance copies of her work?
I sure do, when they are offered.
What kinds of books do you enjoy reading?
I like contemporary fiction --- American, British and Irish, and books about food/cooking, and the occasional biography.
What authors, besides your daughter, do you read?
Julia Glass, Sue Miller, Kate Atkinson, Anita Shreve, among many others.
