Behind The Book Maybe It’s Fate With Heidi McLaughlin

Last year I became a new fan of Heidi McLaughlin’s after I finished reading The Art Of Starting Over. Now I’m doing my second Behind The Book (& third interview total) discussing this year’s new release Maybe It’s Fate! I sped through Presidents Day weekend reading it and finished it! Maybe It’s Fate was released on April 1st! It’s available to read now wherever you read your books!

Q: Welcome back to Book Notions Heidi! For those who haven’t read Maybe It’s Fate, would you please give a brief description of the novel? 

A: Beaches, but with romance. We have Toni and Miri who are lifelong best friends, the sort of friends that you do anything for. Toni drops everything in her life, to be by Miri’s side because of a promise she made when they were teens. 

Q: In the Acknowledgements you wrote that you played with the story of Maybe It’s Fate for a while, but after you and your daughter spent a fun adventurous day with a friend that the character of Antonia was born. With that said, do you base the character of Miri off yourself? 

A: No, these characters are based on the two women I mention in my acknowledgements. I’ve known one of them my entire career and is someone I trust and know I could count on if I ever needed someone by my side. She keeps her family private but introduced me and my daughter to her sister. Not only did I witness an extraordinarily strong sisterly bond, but we were folded into their family. It was like I’d known Toni (the sister) forever. My daughter and I said an hour, and then we’d leave. We ended up spending all day together, and it was the most magical day. 

Q: Which scenes were your favorite to create for the novel? For me it’s hard to choose one specific scene or character since I enjoy every bit of it. How long did it take you to write Maybe It’s Fate? 

A: I didn’t write Maybe It’s Fate continuously. I think I started in December and wrote a few chapters a week until after Christmas and then worked on it full-time. In total, I think just under three months. 

My favorite scenes are with Cutter. His chapters were a gamble, and I’m so happy they paid off. 

Q: What do lessons and reminders do you hope readers learn and remember once they finish reading Maybe It’s Fate? For me, I love that it has themes of friendship and what makes a real family mixed in with a love story too. I also love that it’s a reminder that while no one wants tragedy to happen in their lives, there’s good that comes out of it. It reminds me of a bible verse from Wisdom of Ben Sira where it says, Theres a gain from a loss and a loss from a gain. 

A: Family doesn’t have to be blood. Toni and Miri were sisters, in every sense of the word. The Bernardi’s were Miri’s family when they didn’t have to be. 

Stephen Colbert once said (interpreting) being grateful in life inherently means being grateful and thankful for the one thing you wish didn’t happen, usually a loved one dying. I liken this to my brother passing away in 2011. Every day, I wish he were here to see the successes but also don’t know if I would’ve started writing if he hadn’t passed away. 

A reader could ask – does Cutter go to college for baseball? Does Toni realize Brennan isn’t the right man for her? 

One doesn’t know because the death of Miri is the catalyst for change. 

Q: What would Antonia, Weston, Cutter and Nova all be doing right now? I wouldn’t mind reading a novel about preparing for Antonia and Weston’s wedding! 

A: Planning a wedding at the farmhouse, watching Cutter pitch in the college world series, Nova and Scout running through Miri’s flower garden. 

I recently announced I’m going to do a college baseball series, and a reader asked if I’d continue Cutter’s story. I said not at this time, and then instantly said, you know what – maybe he’s my lead in the new series . . . 

Q: Who would be your dream cast to portray Antonia, Weston and the other characters? Some of my suggestions are Megan Fahy for Antonia, she’s from the show The White Lotus. For Weston a suggestion would be Brandon Sklenar & Mason Thames from The Black Phone as Cutter. 

A: It’s funny, usually I “fan cast” my characters, but I’m not sure I did this time (seems odd). I need to find my notes and hold this question for later! 

I will say, Skelnar is a bit too young to play Weston. While both are rugged, Weston’s a bit older than Antonia (she appreciates the older, mature man)