APDO Book Club: "Making Space" by Sarah Tierney
APDO members chose Sarah Tierney's novel "Making Space" to discuss at a recent APDO Book Club meeting. APDO volunteer Mel Carruthers of More Organised caught up with the author after the book club meeting, to ask some of the questions that were raised by the group."Making Space"
First, a brief synopsis of "Making Space": Miriam is approaching 30 but her life hasn't turned out how she expected it to, and she gives away all her belongings in an attempt to reimagine herself. Erik lives amongst a stifling hoard of books and magazines, a cocoon and protection from the parts of his life that he doesn't want to remember. Fate throws these two main characters together, and Sarah has cleverly used their opposing relationships with their possessions to examine their personalities and lives. A diverse ensemble of secondary characters reinforce our relationships with our possessions... making this the perfect read for anyone interested in decluttering and organisingAn interview with Sarah Tierney
I was delighted to catch up with Sarah Tierney to ask a few questions about "Making Space", following a number of questions raised in our discussions of the book. Our industry isn't often featured in novels and film, so it was interesting to see decluttering and organising portrayed in the novel.Did you work with a professional organiser and what research did you do?
I didn't have the opportunity to work with a professional organiser, though that would have been really useful. Instead I read some books about working with hoarders - including Digging Out by Michael A. Tompkins and Tamara L. Hartl, and Stuff by Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee. I also did quite a bit of research online - looking at websites of professional organisers and reading articles about the subject. I also used my own experience of having Cognitive Behavioural Therapy when describing some of the techniques Lisa uses, and when writing about Eric's avoidance of confronting the past. I've known a few people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and this fed into his character too. I also talked to people with experience of hoarding. I found that when you tell people you're writing a book about hoarding, they inevitably have a story to tell you about someone they know who hoards, or they confide that they're a low-level hoarder themselves. I think a lot of people struggle to keep on top of their possessions nowadays - it is hard to throw things away, and yet very easy to buy things.What prior knowledge of the professional organising industry did you have and what prompted you to include it in the plot?
I wrote Making Space back in 2012/2013 when the industry was much more established in the US than it was here. I think the fact that it was a relatively new industry in the UK gave me the freedom to 'make stuff up' a little bit and imagine what a professional organiser might do. I'm really pleased to hear that real-life professional organisers can relate to it because I didn't know whether I'd managed to make it convincing or not.What role did the professional organiser play in the plot:
One reason I included a professional organiser, Lisa, in the plot was because I wanted to get Miriam out of the position of being Erik's 'therapist' (because that's not a good basis for a romantic relationship!) Primarily though, I wanted to give a sense that both Miriam and Erik had moved forwards in their lives by the end of the book. I thought professional help would be the logical next step in tackling Erik's hoarding. And when Miriam gets a job with Lisa, it showed she had grown as a person through the experience of working with him, by gaining confidence, skills, and a new career direction. I also liked the idea of having a professional organiser who wasn't particularly organised herself.What's next for Sarah Tierney?
I've written a new novel about two sisters on holiday in a remote cottage in the Scottish Highlands. I've only just sent it to my agent so I don't know yet what will happen to it from here but I'll keep you posted! Thank you Sarah for taking the time to answer my questions. I loved the book and can't wait to read the next one!If the novel or the interview with Sarah Tierney has inspired you to find out more about becoming a professional organiser, find out more about the benefits of joining APDO Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers, or take a look at the available training.