Q&A: Patricia Ward, Author of ‘Mercy’

We chat with author Patricia Ward about Mercy, which is a suspenseful contemporary mystery that delves into a small town’s supernatural, multigenerational curse—and the girl determined to break it.

Hi, Patricia! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

I’m Lebanese-American and grew up in Beirut during the civil war. My family moved to the US when I was 18, and I also lived in Italy on and off. I’ve moved so many times I’ve lost count, though I think I might have finally settled down in Vermont … I’ve written four novels that traverse genres from literary to urban fantasy to horror to supernatural, but each in its own way explores my core issues of trauma, identity, and belonging. When I’m not agonizing over writing a book, I love hiking and swimming and just generally marveling at nature. I also dabble in sewing.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

I’ve been writing ever since I could hold a marker. I still have one of the first stories I ever wrote–a 1.5 page fairy tale about a knight rescuing a princess accused of witchcraft. They both end up burned at the stake, but their ashes reunite in heaven. It’s a tearjerker!

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: Five Go to Kirrin Island, by Enid Blyton. There were many others that came before, for sure, but that title has stuck with me my whole life. All I wanted was to be in that rowboat on the cover, headed to a mysterious, rocky Scottish isle.
• The one that made you want to become an author: Probably that one! Who knows. Maybe I read that when I was nine, and I still remember asking my parents what “sonovabitch” meant. I thought it was Russian.
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: If I have to pick only one, it’s Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Your latest novel, Mercy, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be? 

I’ve always been terrible at this sort of thing, but here goes: Murder, revenge, lies, grief, hope.

What can readers expect?

One one level, a small-town whodunit with Scooby vibes, though leaning dark. Digging deeper, it’s really a story about overcoming grief and trauma, about friendship, courage, righting the wrongs of the past … all wrapped up in a quest to break a generations-old curse before it kills again.

Where did the inspiration for Mercy come from?

There’s a little town south of where I live in Vermont where a murder took place in the 1950s, still unsolved. When my son was younger, he did a presentation on it at the library, and some of the older patrons cautioned that people still don’t like to talk about that, and it wouldn’t be a good idea to go around asking questions. This echoed what one of the troopers had said at the time, that people knew what happened, but they weren’t talking. It was intriguing and not a little disturbing that so many people, possibly a whole town, might guard such a dreadful secret, even over generations. That was the spark — though of course, Mercy is quite a different story.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

If I had to choose, without giving any spoilers, I’d say the climactic scene at the end. The process of figuring out just how everything comes together, while conveying the truly reprehensible and in so many ways inexplicable depths to which people might go — that was a challenge I did enjoy as a writer. I also loved writing Rosie. I suppose I put a lot of myself into her in terms of her background and culture clashes. It was also through her that I explored what it would feel like to confront such a surreal, impossible horror.

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

Aside from the usual challenges of keeping focus and knowing when it’s time to take a break and trusting the process, when I was writing Mercy, I got Covid. The after-effects were so bad, the pub schedule had to be moved farther out. I couldn’t feel language anymore. I couldn’t find the right words for anything. I still struggle with finding words. It’s been quite an adjustment. On a bad day, I just keep the thesaurus tab open. When I find the word I was seeking, it can be a bit distressing, because the word is sometimes so stupidly simple and ordinary that it really underscores the damage that was done. It’s worrisome, but not as bad as it used to be, so knock on wood!

What’s next for you?

I’ve started writing a new book … I had planned to take a year off and dive deeper into my sewing, but an idea arrived in the middle of the night, and that was that.

Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?

So, I have a monstrous to-read pile, another monstrous currently-reading pile, and the same goes for audio. This past year, two from the finished pile that stand out are Mosab Abu Toha’s Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear, and Nancy Kricorian’s The Burning Heart of the World. Among the books I’m currently reading is Libby Hillhouse’s self-published Dementish, a heartbreaking, tender, honest account of coping with her husband’s dementia. One intriguing title from the to-read pile is The Universe in Verse: 15 Portals to Wonder Through Science & Poetry. I think that’s coming into the mix soon. As for audio, one standout from the past year is Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth, by astrophysicist Adam Frank. Among the current listens (mysteries, nonfic, politics, etc) is an audio course on hidden worlds and quantum mechanics; not sure what I was thinking there, but I’ll gut it out a bit longer!

Will you be picking up Mercy? Tell us in the comments below!