We sat down with Terry Rachel, author of A Hardscrabble Daughter at her Connecticut home. She welcomed my team and I into her sprawling ranch home overlooking the Long Island Sound. Here’s what she had to say about her life, her new book, and why she considers herself hardscrabble.
Barbara Walters: Terry, it’s so good to see you.
Terry Rachel: Thank you. It’s nice to see you, Barbara.
Barbara Walters: You were quite heavy last year. Have you lost weight?
(Terry laughs aloud and crosses her legs, she’s wearing a red cashmere sweater and corduroy slacks. She summons her assistant who brings us freshly ground coffee and scones. It’s a cool October morning.)
Terry Rachel: Yes, it was time.
Barbara Walters: Do you feel free? Free of that baggage?
Terry Rachel: It was baggage. I lost 40 pounds.
Barbara Walters: The last time I saw you was at a Beat Writers reading.
Terry Rachel: Yes, yes, in the Village.
Barbara Walters: You’ve come a long way. This home is quite large. And you have how many dogs?
Terry Rachel: I’m breeding Border Collies. Here I have the Grand Dame, Jewel, and her litter – Ring, Shake, Speare, Robin and Hood. So 6 all together.
Barbara Walters: Interesting names.
(Terry laughs)
Terry Rachel: Yes, well, I have to detach from them soon. So the names will probably change with their new owners.
Barbara Walters: What was the price tag on the home?
Terry Rachel: Five and a half – well, almost six. It came in around $5.9 million.
Barbara Walters: Let’s talk about your writing. How did you go from blogging on WordPress, to complaining on Facebook, to reading your stories in coffee houses, to a New York Times Bestseller? You’re doing book tours – there is some talk that Showtime wants to turn some of your stories into short films – is this true?
Terry Rachel: Yes, they’ve been in touch with me.
Barbara Walters: Barbara Lowenstein?
Terry Rachel: Yes, she’s the agent that got the ball rolling.
Barbara Walters: How did you get the attention of the Lowenstein Agency?
Terry Rachel: I kept writing. I entered some contests and won one, then another and another. And I would post these wins through Twitter, Facebook. I had a following through email and before I knew it, all this.
Barbara Walters: And all this success………. but there is no one to celebrate with – no one living, to share in your success. You mention that your family is all gone, you are estranged from your nieces and nephews, even cousins.
Terry Rachel: My stories have death as a continual theme. It’s through these stories that I release my frustration.
Barbara Walters: Your sadness. Your lesbianism.
Terry Rachel: Yes, that too.
Barbara Walters: Are you really ‘hardscrabble’ as you say?
Terry Rachel: I can be. My life was very hard. I lived for a long time as a minimalist. I saw how people viewed me. But honestly, I was unburdened from material things.
Barbara Walters: Do you think your lesbianism added to being “hardscrabble”?
(Terry laughs at the question)
Terry Rachel: Let’s put it this way: I was duped many times.
Barbara Walters: And now that you’re fifty-eight your whole life has changed. You have a home overlooking the water, you’re a successful dog breeder, a full-time author. You live very well now.
Terry Rachel: Yes. I thank God for my reversal of fortune. It’s nice to be comfortable for a change.
(The phone rings, Terry excuses herself to take it by walking to a quieter space in the living room. The turn of events would cut short our interview.)
Barbara Walters: I have one last question: if you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?
(Terry laughs at the question)
Terry Rachel: Didn’t you ask Katherine Hepburn this?
Barbara Walters: Yes and I took heat for it by the way. But I think it’s a fitting question for you.
Terry Rachel: Hmmn. What kind of a tree… a fiery maple. Yes, a fiery maple. That would fit me perfectly.
***
Copyright, 2011 Terry Rachel
A Hardscrabble Daughter 