Spring-2023

Permission, Passion and Relentless Research 116 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 Prolific Local Author Shares Her Own Stor y Behind the Pur suit of Wr iting B Y L I S A CRAWFORD WAT SON S tting outside her Carmel home on a winter after- noon, sipping tea by the fire, award-winning author Meg Waite Clayton put her pen down and took a moment to talk about her latest book, “The Postmistress of Paris,” and the process of purs- ing a story. This book is a work of fiction. And yet, in many ways, it’s all true, or so it seems—the result of historical fiction, relentlessly re- searched and written throughout France. Both the story line and the author’s investment in it offer tales of passionate pursuit, which is what makes Meg Waite Clayton a NewYork Times bestselling author. That, and the kind of crafting that shifts her audience from readers to witnesses, there in the moment, experiencing the story, themselves. It is the descriptive detail woven throughout “The Postmistress of Paris” that makes each moment tangible. It is knowing history well enough to give her story a sense of accuracy. It is understanding her characters so clearly, it’s as if she knows them. There’s also a reason Clayton dedicates the book to her mother, Anna Tyler Waite. She, too, is in the details. We don’t learn the protagonist’s name until partway through page seven. And even then, only her first name, Nanée. Yet we’ve already become quite acquainted with her. The story emerges in Paris, early 1938, and spans just two years, but it is burdened by his- tory. “The Postmistress of Paris” has nothing to do with delivering mail. Nanée is providing something more important: the information that might enable those in hid- ing—during the German occupa- tion of Paris—to survive. Clayton dedicated the book to her mother because Nanée is strong-willed, gutsy, in a way she believes her mom was. She over- came obstacles, persisted, paved her own path. “She wasn’t born an heiress but built her own kind of fortune,” says Clayton, “in her own way. It took real dedication.” Her mother’s birthday was November 8th.The book publica- tion date was November 9th. Due to her mother’s illness, Clayton didn’t imagine she’d make either event. Despite a two-week delay in publication, Anna Tyler Waite lived another 18 months and was present for the book release. “My mother loved that I wrote, and she believed I could do it. A book was done,” says Clayton, “when she said it was. I loved talk- ing about writing with her. I later found some of her own writing on her computer.” Becoming Meg Waite Clayton She had known she wanted to be a writer since she was a child.Yet it took Clayton a long time to give herself permission to pursue it. “Knowing you want to write, and believing you can are two different things. I’ve always Meg Waite Clayton relentlessly researches her subjects, which results in her extremely accurate historical fiction. Photo: Adrienne Defendi