An interview of Mary De Gruttola
by Clare Hatfield
RTT Rapid Transformation Therapist and member of FEMpreneur Malta
Clare: What inspired you to write?
Mary: I think I started thinking about writing the day my dad took me to the base library at Camp Wolters in Texas, at the age of 9, to get my first library card. Not only was I proud of getting my Library Card, but it opened up a world I did not know existed.
Clare: How do you feel when you write?
Mary: Taken over. Obsessed. I cannot stop.
Clare: How did you do your research for The Drop of the Hammer?
Mary: On foot! Yeah, no kidding, I did it on foot. I discovered the Spa-Creppe region of Belgium and I would go there, spend time in the archives, get to know people, learn its history, and I think I walked down every single street in Spa and Creppe. Beautiful region!!
Clare: What prompted you to write about the witchcraft trials?
Mary: It wasn’t difficult. Once you start digging into the Spa/Creppe history, you see that these witchcraft trials hover like clouds over the area. Of course, at the time, it spread like wildfire because the population was already stressed by another unknown phenomenon: lead poisoning. This is a mining area and it has been one going back to way before 1200. I was born in a military family, but on my mother’s side they were miners—mostly lead but some coal. Needless to say, I am as proud of being a descendent of miners as I am of being a soldier’ daughter.
Clare: Is there a sequel to The Drop of the Hammer?
Mary: Yes, I am planning one. You just can’t leave a burning love affair like Françoise and Roland have on the side of the road. It has to have an “And then?” moment.
Clare: You mentioned on your blog a manuscript you have on the back burner. What is that all about?
Mary: Ah, yes! That is The Marquetry Box! The story of Valentin Hurlet, Convict 37885. Yes, of course, he is a descendant of those people you meet in The Drop of the Hammer. Valentin is a young man of 18 who deserts the Belgian Army in 1906. He joins the French Foreign Legion and finally dies in French Guyana. The most important person in this novel is his mother, Marie Victoire Lejeune., a woman who, like the Irish say, has “The Gift”. The Marquetry Box is on the back burner because I know too much about Valentin. I am too involved with him.
By that I mean documents I have as well as specific contacts:
Valentin’s family, none of whom ever met him, but they were able to share stories with me that had been handed down;
The Belgian Army that supplied me with the desertion documents;
The French Foreign Legion;
I know all about his tattoos (details received from the IREL);
The IREL in charge of the overseas prison archives which include, of course, the French Guyana archives;
A copy of Léon Collin’s diary, the doctor on the ship that took Valentin to the French Guyana prison.
Clare: Do you have other books on the horizon?
Mary: Yes, I do. First of all, I have The Epiphany of Geert Vandiest that is coming out towards the end of 2021. I am also toying with a manuscript entitled The Pharaoh Hound which takes place in Malta.
Clare: You have another book which has just been published by Amazon: My Darling Ron. What is that all about?
Mary: My Darling Ron deals with the Nigerian Military Romance Scam.
This is a very serious matter, which is hitting Malta rather badly. Actually, it is a worldwide problem. I believe I have captured the psychology of both the victim and the perpetrator rather well. A copy of My Darling Ron has been sent to my police contacts in both Malta and Ottawa. I hope it can help them in one way or the other.
Clare: You take your readers across time and across the world. Tell me, do you have a connecting thread between your novels.
Mary: Not really except that I like for my readers to be able to see the main characters progressing from chapter to chapter becoming stronger, wiser, more dedicated in spite of any weaknesses they may have had at the beginning of the novel.
Clare: What’s next for you now?
Mary: I would like to write about miners, but I can’t give you any details because it is still vague in my mind. Nonetheless, the idea is there, it’s not leaving me in peace, it keeps coming back. Miners have been haunting me since the age of 5.
Clare: Do you believe in “Writer’s Block”? Does it exist?
Mary: Yes, it does. Technically speaking, it is a void of inspiration. Or if you wish to be poetic about it, it is the Muse who is refusing to speak to you.
My take on it is that the characters have decided to go on vacation and the writer just has to wait for them to come back. I think the expression of “The lights are on, but nobody’s home” describes it perfectly.
Clare: And last but not least, do you hide secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
Mary: I didn’t in My Darling Ron, but I did in The Drop of the Hammer. The hidden secret is that, in life, the intention is the most important thing in whatever you say, do or think. Both Remacle Le Rosy and Roland de Bolland use pretty much the same words when talking to Françoise—–but the intention is totally different.
The Joys of Writing 