Writer’s life experiences during the ‘70s reflected in novel
The 1970s were a turbulent time as a war raged in Vietnam. Naomi Kennedy’s first book, “The Boy with the Best Laugh,” is just as tumultuous as the author explores the fictional lives of Adam, a lottery winner and draft dodger, Liz, a mother of two, and Anne, who finds her identity after her husband leaves her for another woman.
“It’s exciting,” said Kennedy, a 14-year Cornwall resident. “I couldn’t believe people were reading it. What’s strange is I never thought about people reading what I was writing. I was just going through the process and feeling good about it. For a while I was kind of numb from being exhausted from everything. Then it hit me when people were buying it. When I realized people were actually enjoying it, I was shocked. I didn’t think men would enjoy it. It seemed more to me a woman’s book, but the history attracted them. I’ve had a lot of compliments from men, which is surprising because there’s a love triangle in it and I don’t think men usually go for that.”
Returning to college as an adult, Kennedy studied art and journalism. One of the classes she took was a novel writing course. During the class, she began writing a novel based on her experiences in the 1970s and what was happening to her friends and family. Having written about 50 pages, Kennedy’s professor commented she had a winner on her hands. At the time, it was only a short story and Kennedy hadn’t considered writing a longer book, but over the course of 13 years she continued to work on it.
“Even though I thought about what happened in the 70s over the years and how it affected me, family, and friends, I never thought about putting it down on paper. Once I sat in front of the computer all of a sudden it came flooding out of me. It was surprising.”
Kennedy worked on the book off and on while balancing a career as an artist and adult art teacher, but the lessons got put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, allowing her the time to put the finishing touches on her book, which hit bookshelves in March.
During the writing process, Kennedy found parallels between what people were experiencing during the war and the pandemic, citing confusion in the country, protests and demonstrations.
Both were scary times, she said, adding after the war friends came home and weren’t the same having to deal with post-traumatic stress.
Even though Kennedy lived through the decade, she still had to conduct extensive research to make sure her facts were accurate especially when it came to referencing music. She even had the opportunity to contact some draft dodgers, who remain in Canada, to speak about their experience.
The most difficult part about writing the book was publishing and marketing the book because Kennedy was delving into an area she knew little about, but now that she’s experienced the process, it shouldn’t be as hard the second time around. She’s in the early process of writing a sequel.
To purchase the book, visit Amazon.com. For more information about the author and the book, check out naomiekennedyauthor.com and booksbywomen.org.
