Q: Were there any challenges along the journey of creating this book in particular?
It's funny, I never had writer's block once I got the character Mary Lizbeth in my mind. She led the story finally out of the woods of wondering where it ought to go. Her ultimate connection to Sophia, with hapless Frank in the middle of the storm of it all, make it a novel. And to this day I can read parts of it and wonder who write that. Sure, I did, but not without help. Stephen King says invent the character, and the character will show you the story. Absolutely true.
Q: With the book releasing this weekend, do you feel a sense of relief / excitement / anxiousness now that the world will be able to take it in, cover to cover? Describe those emotions.
Cogdill: Relief. Thrill. A great letting go. It's graduation season, and this is very much like watching a child walk the stage into freedom to become someone in the world. Charles Hedgepath and Michael Bloom of Solaris believed in this book, and in me. Charles spent hours with me on the edit I knew had to happen, and dreaded for so long. Three men gave birth to a graduate. Now the women of She Rain will carry it forth. The women, and that hell-raising, wise, cussing preacher in there, Rev. Lew. He's a favorite of mine, based on real men I knew. The release recalls Rev. Lew and the others to life. I am so grateful. So happy for this.
Q: Where can interested readers find She Rain?
Cogdill: Apple, Kindle, all the usual places where one can read a book on a tablet, a phone, maybe even a watch. The physical books will come soon. I want She Rain in heirloom hard cover as quickly as we can. That, and in movie theaters eventually. It's out of my hands now. I'll never touch the narrative of it again. A great screenwriter, Richard O'Sullivan, has adapted it for screen, and he's done so brilliantly. I could never have done what he did. From your iPhone to your bookstore, and far beyond that, it has its own legs now -- and a publicist and a team of caring people to take it from my hands to yours. To readers I say THANK YOU. A book requires time. Yours. That's precious. Not only do I not want to waste that. I want you to be so glad you spent time with it, and all the tender, wild oddity within the pages. I'm turning the page of my life to a new novel I have underway. Time for She Rain to be let go into every corner of this world, way beyond me.