{"id":48499,"date":"2015-04-28T14:00:31","date_gmt":"2015-04-28T04:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=48499"},"modified":"2016-03-01T09:23:24","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T23:23:24","slug":"jacinta-tynan-author-of-mother-zen-answers-ten-terrifying-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2015\/04\/28\/jacinta-tynan-author-of-mother-zen-answers-ten-terrifying-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacinta Tynan, author of Mother Zen, answers Ten Terrifying Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mother-zen\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Booktopia Book Guru asks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jacinta Tynan<\/h1>\n

author of\u00a0Mother Zen<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ten Terrifying Questions
\n____________
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1. To begin with why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was born and raised in Sydney\u2019s Sutherland Shire (known simply as \u2018The Shire\u2019) as one of six kids in a suburb called Yowie Bay, but I went to high school in the eastern suburbs commuting an hour-and-a-half in each direction. Train time was reading time.<\/p>\n

2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Actress, journalist, writer. That was the order of my desires and it still goes back and forth. From as long as I can remember I wanted to be an actor taking myself off to acting classes on weekends and summer holidays, but I also wrote stories and dreamed one day of writing a book. I settled on a career in journalism because I decided it was the ideal combination of my two passions. I have always been fascinated by other people\u2019s lives so I get to delve into those \u2013 as a journalist and a writer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Author Jacinta Tynan<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That love will last forever. My first love was a beautiful boy and my best friend who died suddenly just shy of my 19th birthday. I learnt quickly that the rug can be pulled out from under you at any moment, and have been wary of complacency ever since.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0What were three big events \u2013 in the family circle or on the world stage or in your reading life, for example \u2013 you can now say, had a great effect on you and influenced you in your career path?<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Reading as a child got the whole ball rolling. I am certain of that. My mother would read to us often (with six of us it was collective story time) and we were always given books as presents, a stack at the end of the bed from Santa every Christmas. I still have several of my favourite books today which I am now reading to my boys: The Fairy Who Wouldn\u2019t Fly<\/em><\/a> (Pixie O\u2019Harris), The Little Black Princess<\/em><\/a> (Mrs Aeneas Gunn) and Dot and The Kangaroo<\/em><\/a> (Ethel Pedley), for example.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Losing my first love. I was already studying journalism when Simon died, so I was on the path, but my life changed forever in that moment. In my grief I decided to make the most of this life and make it mean something so the pain wouldn\u2019t be for nothing. I\u2019m sure the experience also made me understand people at a deeper level. I am not afraid of other people\u2019s heartache or suffering: handy stuff for a journalist and writer of any sort.<\/p>\n

\"9780732299378\"<\/a>3. I had been working as a journalist for several years when I decided to do a \u2018writing course\u2019. Even though I got the opportunity to write scripts on a daily basis as a TV Reporter (at that stage with ABC\u2019s 7:30 Report<\/em>), I yearned to be more creative. So I did a \u2018Life Writing\u2019 workshop with Patti Miller and it was like a light went on. Patti believes we all have a story in us, something to share with others, and I found so did I.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Considering the innumerable electronic media avenues open to you – blogs, online newspapers, TV, radio, etc \u2013 why have you chosen to write a book? Aren\u2019t they obsolete?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nothing will ever replace holding a real life book in your hand as you kick back and devour it. I work in all the other media (I\u2019m a TV journalist \u2014 a News Presenter with Sky, I write for newspapers \u2014 Columnist for Sunday Life, and I have a blog), so I don\u2019t shy away from them and they certainly have their place but, as a writer with a chunk of information to impart, books are still the ideal format. I couldn\u2019t say all I needed to say in a blog. Not in one go. I know I\u2019m behind on this but I\u2019m yet to read an e-book. I can only stare at a computer screen for so long. Even when I\u2019m reading online \u2014 a newspaper or blog\u00a0 \u2014 I usually print the pages out so I have the hard copy version instead. As for TV, the first question when we\u2019re considering a story is always \u201cDo we have vision?\u201d The written word gets around that tricky problem of having no pictures.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Please tell us about your latest book\u2026<\/strong>\"mother-zen\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I wrote Mother Zen<\/em><\/a> because I wanted to read it. When I became a mother (to two little boys) I was surprised to find it as enjoyable and rewarding as I do because most of the literature about motherhood is negative. There are some really helpful and insightful advice books out there, but the predominant message is that being a mother is a tough and thankless task that must be endured. I wanted to balance that out a bit, to explore why so many parents find it a challenge and see if there\u2019s a way to shift that. Maybe it\u2019s up to us and not our circumstances.<\/p>\n

The book is part memoir about my fledgling journey as a new mother, but it also weaves in interviews with parenting experts and other parents.
\nIt is also a look at an alternative way of being \u2014 to be present and grateful \u2014 as we negotiate the often overwhelming new role we find ourselves in, being responsible for the life of another and so often without the \u2018village\u2019 we were promised it would take to raise our child.<\/p>\n

Grab a copy of Mother Zen<\/em><\/strong> here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0If your work could change one thing in this world \u2013 what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That all mums, no matter what their circumstances, could access the utter joy that\u2019s available to us all.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Whom do you most admire and why? <\/strong><\/p>\n

My mother. For bringing six of us into the world and keeping it all (and us all) together.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Many people set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My ambition has changed course dramatically since I became a mother. I used to be distractingly hungry for the next thing and what I had going on was never enough. Now, my greatest goal is to be a good mother to my boys \u2014 loving, present, available, a solid role model, someone they will always trust and turn to. I want to inspire them (as a mother and a woman) and guide them and raise them to have empathy and emotional intelligence. \u201cI am your constant,\u201d I say to them. I\u2019m well aware that no matter what we do as a parent we won\u2019t always get it right. But my greatest hope is that with that foundation they can fly.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

10. What advice do you give aspiring writers?<\/strong><\/p>\n