So, whats the book all about? Here's the blurb:
Marilee Carson Cooper, daughter of a good southern family, had expectations, but now they are dashed. After her husband leaves her for a young man when she is pregnant with their second child, she pins her hopes for financial and career salvation on winning the coveted Chair of Clinical Law at Alabama Southern University.
The Chair goes to Dwight Hurley, a hometown boy who once broke her heart. He is favored because he claims to have written a forthcoming textbook, while Marilee’s job is now endangered, despite her success at the clinic. Dwight’s mysterious reappearance leaves Marilee burning for revenge.
At the same time, the troubled clients of the legal clinic are presenting Marilee and her student lawyers with grave issues. One of them—an unwed teen mother whom Marilee has known for most of her life—is accused of child abuse and murder.
As her feelings for Dwight become increasingly confused, Marilee realizes that her rival could be her only hope in saving the teenager.
Things Are Going To Slide grips the heart with its twists and turns of romantic love in a legal clinic and illuminates the dynamics of justice in a closely knit town.
"Rangeley Wallace has beautifully rendered the texture of Southern life in this gripping tale of love, betrayal, and the strength of family," wrote Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump. "Things Are Going to Slideis a remarkable achievement."
One reviewer described Things Are Going to Slide as "smart chick lit, mom-lit, and law-lit." Midwest Book Review called Things Are Going to Slide "a powerful novel of chaos and recovery that will attract any interested in strong stories of professional women." A romantic, smart page-turner, steeped in the tradition of southern literature, Things Are Going to Slide is "the kind of book that makes you keep reading long after you meant to turn out the light."
The lovely Rangeley Wallace was kind enough to come to Brook Cottages and sit in the interrogation interview chair!
JB: The book is centred around a law clinic. What made you yourself decide to follow a career in law?
Rangeley: Growing up I read a few books featuring lawyers I admired, in particular Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. Later, I met a handful of lawyers who worked for social justice and they inspired me as well.
JB: Did you find your own experience in the legal world a help in writing the book and did you get any advice from colleagues?
JB: You are obviously a very busy woman, raising children, having a career and writing. How do you find the time to fit in writing a book with all your other commitments?
Rangeley: I do not do everything at once! I’ve taken breaks from my career to be with my children and to write and I sometimes work part time as well. I am very lucky to have that flexibility.
JB: Marilee finds herself in quite a predicament, pregnant and abandoned and her career in jeopardy and has to find inner strength. Where did the idea of the story of Marilee come from and is she based on anyone you know?
Rangeley: I knew I wanted to write about a young woman clinical professor who was facing a number of difficulties and I also knew I wanted to write about someone strong, who perseveres in the face of those difficulties. Marilee appeared. She wasn’t based on anyone I know.
JB: Did you at any point of writing the book make any major changes to the plot or did you remain fairly focused on keeping to the original plot?
Rangeley: Yes, many changes! Unfortunately, I took Marilee down a number of different paths before I figured out the plot that worked best with her character. At one point I had two story lines, one involving a dark past event in her mother’s life intertwined with something close to the current story. It didn’t really work though!
JB: If you hadn’t pursued a career in law what else do you think you would have been doing?
Rangeley: I might have been a journalist or a psychologist; I am fascinated by the things people do and equally fascinated by the reasons they give for the things they do. I love to listen to people’s stories.
JB: Your books are obviously based on a subject matter you have extensive knowledge of. Are there any other subjects you’d like to write about or venture into a whole new genre?
Rangeley: I would like someday to write in different genres, perhaps something more literary, perhaps a mystery. And, I would like to write a book about the sixties.
JB: How long, from initial planning to final edits did it take you to write the book? A few years.
Rangeley: It takes me a long time because of my legal work and my children – and because creating a world that’s (hopefully) believable isn’t easy.
JB: Do you have any advice to any budding authors out there? Any words of wisdom?
Rangeley: Nothing ground breaking: Just write and write and write and get tons of feedback, from other writers, from editors and from friends and teachers.
JB: Do you write every day and if so how much time do you devote to writing? When I’m working part-time I write five days a week for a few hours each day.
Rangeley: When I’m working full time I only write a few hours here and there.
JB: Do you have any plans in the pipeline for another book?
Rangeley: I’m almost finished revising and editing another book, STUBBORN LOVE. In the book I address issues of work-life balance, motherhood, love, and the impact of the past on the present.
Thanks for taking the time to interview me! I enjoyed it.
Here's a little more background on Rangeley Wallace................
Rangeley Wallace was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and lived there (except for one year of boarding school in Memphis) until she went to college at Emory University in Atlanta. After graduation, she moved north to Washington, D.C., to attend Washington College of Law, American University. The year following, she was a fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for Public Interest Representation, where she received an LLM.
Rangeley has written two novels. No Defense and Thing Are Going To Slide.
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