Interview with Carol Roach

Today, I had the opportunity to interview Gather member, Carol Roach (winterose.gather.com) who has published two books.

Carol and I met for over coffee and talk in Montreal, where we had a discussion about her novel, Angels Watching Over Me.

Carol Roach in Montreal. (http://winterose.gather.com)

Carol, you told me in Montreal that Angels Watching Over Me was partially based on a woman you had known growing up in Montreal. It seems her story really struck you as one worth telling. Would you say that her story was one of the most heart-rending stories you encountered growing up?

"Though it is true that I met the protagonist of the story when I was 13 years old, I only reconnected with her after I had married and had a young child of my own.  I did not know what happened until the reunion.  But when I was finally told what happened there was nothing that hit me more that this mother losing her child.  I just could not imagine losing my child,  - literally, I couldn’t imagine it. It was too painful to think about it and to think it never happened to me, but it happened to her.  She was robbed of the joy of being a mother to this sweet angel.  Then to see her ex escorted to the hospital and walk in with arm guards and shackles on his feet were beyond my comprehension.  I don’t know what I would have felt had that situation happen to me. As if that wasn’t enough to this very day she does not know the cause of death.  How much more can a mother take, how can this mother ever get closure?  Was it of the most heart-rending stories I encountered growing up, no, it is one of the most horrific stories I have ever encountered in my entire life."


Carol, You have a flair for describing people. Perhaps you could give a synopsis of Angels Watching Over Me for the readers of this interview.

"Angels Watching Over Meis a semi fictional; the base of the story is the life story of my friend.  Carissa, the protagonist, grew up in rural Nova Scotia and lost both her parents by the time she was 8 years old.  She left her siblings and travelled to Montreal at the age of 17.  The story then continues to trace her life to present day (I can’t give away everything) In Montreal she meets the man she falls in love with and never really knew the man he really was until the bitter end."

"The story depicts her tremendous strength of character, sense of family values and love of God.  It explores what it truly means to be a woman.  It demonstrates how an impoverished single Mother can overcome the various obstacles that are set in her way.  It demonstrates how blind faith can sometimes work out for us and sometimes work against us.  It magnifies her ability to connect with Angels and I am hoping it reveals my true feelings about this woman, and the hero she is to me." 

  Angels Watchig Over Me by Carol Roach

 How long did it take to write Angels Watching Over Me?

"That is hard to say.  Originally, Angels Watching Over Me, was written as a short story that I was going to submit to a contest in 2004.  I had several people read it and they all came to the same conclusion this story needed to be a novel.  The original short story was non fictional, but I had to expand to make it into a novel and there the story went from 17,000 words to close 90,000.  I had three different editors read the book, that last editor was a professional editor for over 20,000, she advised me to flush out the character father in the beginning of the book, since even after his death he continued to play an important role in Carissa’s life.  She also asked for more dialogue.  So after three major changes to the direction of the book, I would say it took two years. "

Was your life similar or different from that of your protagonist?

"Kathryn, my signature writing is about poverty, I write for the underdog, I try to expose the myths of poverty through my writing whether it is a short piece or a full-length novel.  Yes, there are parallels between our lives, poverty, single parenthood, fighting the odds, family values, and spiritually all come to play.  Actually two of the female characters are composites of me. "

Of the two books you've published, Picking Up the Pieces and Angels Watching Over Me - do you prefer one over the other? Or do you think of them as equals?

"The books are very different; my first book is my autobiography and explores poverty and its major issues. It demonstrates how I overcame obstacles, and provides inspiration for women.  It was much easier to write because it was my story.  The second is a novel, it has all those elements I mentioned but harder to write because I had to use my imagination, to fill in missing pieces that the real Carissa never to told me and to be able to weave a story that would capture the hearts of my readers.  Of the two which one do I prefer, I would have to say Angels Watching Over Me.  It demonstrates how I have grown as a writer."

Do you have plans for a third book? If so, could you briefly describe your book.

"After my six proofreaders read the book, they all said they wanted to know more about the story - they felt they lost their best friend when the book ended.  Each one had a different character that they wanted to know more about.  I thought about it and I decided to make the sequel about one of Carissa’s sisters who was a key figure in the story.  I have already started the book and it is going to be even better than Angels Watching Over Me, I cannot predict if and when the manuscript will be completed though.  Lately I have had to concentrate on writing for instant cash.  Which I am for example doing at this moment, as I leave all you wonderful people on Gather this evening, I must get back to my writing assignment.  This particular assignment will yield $300.00 badly needed dollars."

Thank you, Carol.

You can buy Angels Watching Over Me HERE