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PrintWeb extra: Q&A with Author Justin Cronin
Justin Cronin is the author Mary and O’Neil, which won the Pen/Hemingway Award and the Stephen Crane Prize, The Summer Guest, and The Passage, which is the best-selling first installment of a much-anticipated apocalyptic trilogy (the second book is due to be published in 2012). A professor of English at Rice University, Cronin resides full-time in Houston, but recently bought a house in Centerville, where he has been visiting since he was a little kid. Editor Scott Lajoie speaks to Cronin about his love for Centerville and Four Seas, how Cape Cod figures into his novels, and when he’ll find the time to write when he is here on vacation.
Cape Cod Magazine: Tell me about your ties to the Cape.
Justin Cronin:My parents started coming here in 1950. Two weeks after I was born, I made my first visit. I spent every summer of my childhood in Hyannisport and later Osterville. Even when I went to boarding school in New England, I would visit often. My mother now lives in Hyannis. We’ve always rented—never the same house twice—but I have always dreamed of owning a house there.
CCM: Where is your new house?
JC: Old Centerville area. You can walk to Four Seas. Fifty percent of my crushes growing up were on girls who worked the counter at Four Seas. I like this area of the Cape. It’s very old, almost tribal. My mother now knows virtually everyone on Cape Cod. She says she “has 61 years in the game.”
CCM: Has that rubbed off on you?
JC: Of course. Even though I live far away in Houston, I think that if there were a test you could take to verify your knowledge of Cape Cod, I’d pass. I still say “wicked this” and “wicked that.”
CCM: Has it changed much since you were a kid?
JC: No, it’s not that different at all. Maybe a little more traffic.
CCM: What else do you love about the Cape?
JC: I love to take my family to Race Point. Nearby, we love to explore West Bay and West Hyannisport.
CCM: Has Cape Cod been a setting in your novels?
JC: My second book was set in a fishing camp in rural Maine, but the vibe was totally informed by my Cape Cod experience.
CCM: When you’re here this summer, will you be writing?
JC: Of course. I have to make my publisher’s deadlines. But since I love the beautiful days here, I will try to be writing when it is dark.
Justin Cronin is appearing at Sandwich Town Hall for a talk and book signing Tuesday, July 12 at 7 pm. The event is sponsored by Titcomb’s Book Shop and the Sandwich Public Library.
