Nan McCarthy

author of Since You Went Away, Chat, Connect, Crash, & Live ’Til I Die

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    • Since You Went Away, Part Two: Spring
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    • Buy: Since You Went Away (Part Two: Spring)
    • Buy: Since You Went Away (Part One: Winter)
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    • Buy: Crash (book 3)
    • Buy: Live ’Til I Die
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Robert Harris hits it out of the ballpark once again with his 2016 thriller Conclave. The Pope is dead and 118 cardinals are sequestered for 72 hours while they choose who amongst themselves will be the next leader of the Catholic Church. Men with ambition, men with secrets, men who connive to take down their rivals, and men who are truly holy, praying to the Holy Spirit to help them make the right decision. Harris’s character development and pacing are stellar, while his painstaking research into the secret rituals of the Catholic Church melds seamlessly into the rip-roaring plot. As the Wall Street Journal puts it, “Harris is incapable of writing an unenjoyable book.” I loved his 2003 novel Pompeii and this more recent novel did not disappoint. • #RobertHarris #Conclave #intelligentthriller #suspensefiction #funreads #lovetoread
When life gets hectic, read something FUN. Stephen King says this book is unputdownable, delightful, and chilling—and he’s right. I’m about 150 pages into the story of Anna, an agoraphobic who passes the time by watching her neighbors through the zoom lens of her camera. And then, one night she sees something she shouldn’t. OF COURSE. This isn’t Rear Window, but Anna happens to be a classic movie enthusiast, as am I. The characters are well-drawn and the writing is expert. It’s fun trying to figure out which characters aren’t what they seem. Or is it all of them? I’ll add an update to this post when I’m finished. • #TheWomanInTheWindow #AJFinn #thriller #suspense #psychologicalthriller #funreads #lovetoread
I don’t usually read books twice but when I do it’s for book club. I read Sebastian Junger’s Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging when it first came out in 2016 and zipped through it again last night to refresh my memory. 🤓📚 • Another great book club discussion as per usual. We talked about what it means to be part of a tribe in today’s society, what we can do to help our veterans reintegrate after military service, and why it’s important to destigmatize mental illness. Post Traumatic Stress is a healthy response to trauma. Problems arise when those stress responses become chronic and disrupt day-to-day living. Junger’s book is a good first step toward understanding not just the problems veterans face during reintegration but modern American society as a whole. #SebastianJunger #Tribe #veterans #PostTraumaticStress #reintegration #findyourtribe #bookpeople #lovetoread #vetspouse
The only way to make an Irish coffee. None of that Bailey’s shit. 🍀☕️🥃🍶🍀 • 3/4 cup strong black coffee, hot • 1-2 tsp sugar • 1 large measure Irish whiskey • 1-2 tbsp double cream #StPaddysDay #IrishCoffee #FamilyTradition #Slainte
“You tell me that I must perish Like the flowers that I cherish Nothing remaining of my name Nothing remembered of my fame But the trees that I planted Still are young The songs I sang Will still be sung.” —Johnny Cash, summer 2003 Singer, songwriter, musician, entertainer—and poet. “Forever Words,” compiled by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon and John Carter Cash, is a collection of previously unpublished poems and lyrics culled from the mountains of paper Johnny Cash left behind after his death in 2003. If you love poetry and Johnny Cash, this book is for you. #JohnnyCash #ForeverWords #poetry #poetrybooks #unknownpoems #JohnnyCashPoet
“Perhaps they were right in putting love into books... Perhaps it could not live anywhere else.” —William Faulkner, Light in August • #HappyValentinesDay #BookstagramFriends #BookLovers #WilliamFaulkner #LightInAugust #LoveToRead #LoveToWrite #BookLove
The 10-part TV series based on Caleb Carr’s The Alienist starts tonight 1/22 on TNT at 8pm Central. The book came out in 1994 and this is my paperback from the same year. Set in 1896 New York in the early days of forensic science, the book follows Laszlo Kreizler, a famous alienist (what we would call a forensic psychologist today), in his search for a serial killer on the Lower East Side. Not sure if I’ll be able to catch the whole series, but I absolutely loved the book. • #CalebCarr #TheAlienist #booktofilm #booktoTV #TVseriesbasedonbooks #lovetoread #forensicthriller #crimenovel #historicalfiction
Christmas gift from my younger son. He knows me well. #HappyBirthdayElvis
My dad swiped this ashtray from the famed NYC Stork Club on a business trip in the 1950s. For the duration of my childhood it sat next to the telephone in the kitchen, perpetually filled to the brim with cigarette butts and ashes. It now holds a place of honor on our bookshelf, among my favorite books & other possessions. These ashtrays fetch upward of $150 these days, but I’d never part with mine, because it reminds me of my parents. I wonder if Holly Golightly snagged one too? #TheStorkClub #BreakfastAtTiffanys #TrumanCapote #HollyGolightly #SentimentalStuff #lovetoread

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Topics

  • Blog (26)
  • Books (23)
    • biography/memoir (5)
      • Live ’Til I Die (5)
    • fiction (14)
      • Chat: book one (3)
      • Connect: book two (3)
      • Crash: book three (3)
      • Since You Went Away (Part One: Winter) (3)
      • Since You Went Away (Part Two: Spring) (1)
    • how-to (1)
  • Excerpts (1)
  • Family (17)
  • Featured (10)
  • Interviews (1)
    • students/academic (1)
  • Military life (4)
  • News (1)
  • Parenting (9)
  • Photos (1)
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  • Publishing (3)
    • self-publishing (2)
  • Recipes (7)
  • Shop (5)
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  • Writing (5)

NOW AVAILABLE

Since You Went Away, Part Two: Spring

Since You Went Away, Part Two: Spring Nan McCarthy (Rainwater Press, 2017) 226 pages F I C T I O N…

Recent Posts

  • Since You Went Away, Part Two: Spring
  • Student Interview: Writing & the Writing Life
  • How I Got the Idea for Since You Went Away
  • Buy: Since You Went Away (Part One: Winter)
  • Since You Went Away, Part One: Winter
  • Shit On a Shingle
  • Shot and a Beer
  • Live ’Til I Die: Student Interview
  • Vegetable Soup
  • Gooey Butter Cake
  • A Very Dry Martini
  • Bacon & Eggs
  • The Last Time I Saw My Dad Alive
  • My Favorite Scary Books
  • For Those Who Make Art
  • To My Sons: What I Would Like for Mother’s Day
  • New ebook editions of Chat, Connect, Crash now available
  • Buy: Chat (book 1)
  • Buy: Connect (book 2)
  • Buy: Crash (book 3)
  • Buy: Live ’Til I Die
  • Chat: book one
  • Connect: book two
  • Crash: book three
  • Timeline: a publishing history of Chat, Connect, & Crash
  • A Hero’s Welcome: Parades & Promises
  • Summer Shandies
  • Nan’s Top Secret Extra Special Super Duper 
Philosophy on How to Write A Book
  • excerpt: Live ‘Til I Die: a memoir of my father’s life
  • Gray Hair

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