LEAVING THE BEACH is about a girl/woman named Erin Reardon who truly believes it’s her destiny to become the soul mate of a rock icon. She’s also got a terrible eating disorder — bulimia — which only complicates matters.

As Erin grows and matures, she becomes infatuated with various new rock stars, and pursues them in increasingly risky ways. Then, one night, she ends up having a chance meeting with grunge musician Lenny Weir–a drug-addled, Kurt Cobain-like character–and Erin’s focus narrows to Lenny. Even when he reportedly commits suicide, she can’t quite give up on him, and ends up embarking on the most dangerous road trip of her life.

In a nutshell, LEAVING THE BEACH is a gritty story about illusion, reality, and the odd ways that music can blur the lines between the two.

It does sound very gritty. What genre is it?
Women’s fiction/literary fiction.

I think it will appeal to readers between the ages of 30-50. It’s primarily a women’s story, but many men enjoy it too. And there’s lots of music trivia that music lovers will appreciate.

Erin sounds quite a little mixed up.
Erin is damaged. She grows up as an only child in a working-class family in Winthrop, Massachusetts–a quiet beach town not far from Boston–and her childhood is marred by several traumatic incidents that contribute to the issues that plague her as a teenager and adult. She does some traveling and lives in a few different places throughout the story, but nothing can be resolved until she deals with her past.

Is she based on anyone you know – or will that be too sensitive to reveal?
Erin Reardon is entirely fictional, but I was bulimic for over fifteen years, so I have a good deal of experience with that disease. Also, I’m a huge music lover, and am a fan of all the musicians Erin becomes obsessed with. (The Doors, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Queen)

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
I have another book called LIVING BY EAR that I self-published in 2013. That book is being republished by Booktrope in September. It’s also a women’s novel, but is a bit lighter than LEAVING THE BEACH. It also has a strong music theme.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m married and have two teenage children, a cat, and a dog. In college, I was an English major, but didn’t have the confidence to start writing for real until almost twenty years later. During that time, I taught school and worked in marketing and sales. But I always knew I wanted to write novels, and now, I’m fortunate enough to be able to do that.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
www.maryrowen.com.

Are you on social media?
@maryjrowen
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Rowen-Author/128709923953918.

What’s next?
I’m working on a novel about the unlikely friendship between a confused twenty-something woman and the much older ham radio operator who lives across the street from her. Both of these people have histories that involve violence, but neither likes to discuss that.

How easily do new storylines come to you? If we give you four random words – Man, Woman, Mexico, Future – can you give us a brief storyline?
An American man goes to Mexico on vacation and has a drunken encounter with a local woman he meets in a bar. Several months after his return to the US, he gets a phone call from the woman, saying she\’s pregnant. And the man–who has never been in love but hasn’t stopped thinking about the woman–realizes he wants to try to become a good father to the child. He has no idea what the future may hold, but he buys a plane ticket and heads South of the Border.