The Shebooks Interview

They asked questions such as, "How does your religious identity influence your writing?"  Who would have expected that one?
     I told them about my first published story, about a raindrop (me, I was about age 9) who fell to the earth and provided the material from which Louis Pasteur worked out germ theory. 

 It was fun to give the interview, and lovely to be one of the authors (we had to wear tiaras onstage) at the reading for the celebration of Shebooks, the new e-publisher of long form journalism, memoir, fiction and my new book, Ricochet. 

Read about Ricochet here on Amazon

What advice do you have for an aspiring writer who is just starting out?

"Write every day.  Not every other day, not when the spirit hits. Every day."

I think you'll enjoy the rest of the Shebooks interview Just click right here

Advance Praise for Ricochet

 “Extraordinary writing, evocative, riveting and wise.” – Jake Bernstein, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter

“A book for anyone who cares about the impact of war and the power of human relationships.” – Lindsey Hilsum, award-winning television reporter, author of Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution

“Lush…captures the bloody violence swirling in the midst of beauty--an extraordinary piece of historical reportage.” -- June Carolyn Erlick, author of Disappeared, A Journalist Silenced, and editor-in-chief of ReVista, the Harvard Review of Latin America.

 From Shebooks

General launch May 21.  Buy now on Kindle

Here are complete versions of early comments on Ricochet.

“An extraordinary piece of writing. McConahay's spot-on prose is evocative, riveting and wise. Her story beautifully captures the tension that exists within the best war correspondents. How does one stay tough and also empathetic? How do you balance a capacity for outrage with a need for self-care? I've had the privilege of watching these two extraordinary women work. Now you can too. They didn't parachute into their war zone, they immersed themselves in it. The journalism that resulted shined. This unflinching account follows the same path and we are better for the journey.”

       ---Jake Bernstein, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter

"Mary Jo McConahay's poignant memoir tells not only of the brutality that tore El Salvador apart in 1989, but of what it was like to cover the war as a reporter. The horror of that time is redeemed by friendship forged on the road, under fire, that endures when all other certainties fade away. A book for anyone who cares about the impact of war and the power of human relationships."

       ---Lindsey Hilsum, award-winning television journalist, author of Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution

"This understated but lush narrative evokes a very special time for many foreign correspondents, the wars in Central America in the 1980s. Through the lens of her friendship with a fellow American photojournalist, Mary Jo McConahay captures the bloody violence swirling in the midst of exquisite beauty. This nuanced portrait is not just an extraordinary piece of historical reportage; it is a window on the decisions that journalists caught in war must make about their daily lives even today." – June Carolyn Erlick, author of Disappeared, A Journalist Silenced, and editor-in-chief of ReVista, the Harvard Review of Latin America.