I loved Man O’War so much. Reading it was an experience of all the emotions I’ve had. It’s a heart wrenching contemporary about love, identity, and choice. I’m so thrilled Cory McCarthy was willing to chat with me. Keep reading this interview to see all my favorite questions while reading!
About Man O’War
River McIntyre has grown up down the street from Sea Planet, an infamous marine life theme park slowly going out of business in small-town Ohio. When a chance encounter with a happy, healthy queer person on the annual field trip lands River literally in the shark tank, they must admit the truth: they don’t know who they are—only what they’ve been told to be. This sets off a wrenching journey of self-discovery, from internalized homophobia and gender dysphoria, through layers of coming out, affirmation surgery, and true freakin’ love.
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Find Man O’War on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.
Author Interview
Okay first question, gotta ask, were you always obsessed with the Man O’ War? Do you remember the first time you heard about it? Have you always been obsessed with aquatic animals?
I saw a man o’ war for the first time ten years ago. I was taking a walk with my jidu (grandfather) on Daytona Beach. The creature was absolutely gorgeous. I thought it was a jellyfish, but my jidu knew better. I’ve always been…let’s say attached to marine life, but when I learned that they also use they/them pronouns…yep, I would say I definitely became obsessed.
As someone who can barely swim, like seriously, River’s swimming skills are serious superpowers to me. Can you talk me through the evolution of the swimming in the book? Did you always know River would be a swimmer? Did you have to do research? Were the side character teammates always the same in the evolutions of MAN O’ WAR?
River’s swimming is based on my ten years as a competitive swimmer. Just like River, I started competing in third grade, and I have a real love/hate relationship with the freedom of the water and the gendered parameters of the sport, which ultimately had me walking away from swimming in my prime. Unlike River, I did not compete in undergrad. I did go to OU, however, and I have vivid memories of swimming laps alone, only to get out so the team could get in the water. It was a grief I didn’t understand at the time but writing MAN O’ WAR has helped me heal.
The lanemates in this book are all an amalgamation of the lanemates I knew over the years. And yep, the sock wrestling, coed sleepovers, and bus shenanigans were all part of our team experience J
River’s relationship with their sibling was one of my favorite side characters. Did River always have a sibling? Did any of their relationship change during drafting? Who is your favorite side character?
To be honest, the first draft of this book looks very similar to the way it ended up. This book came out of me in one big piece, and then my editor and I diligently found places to draw out themes, tighten up the drama, etc. I’m so glad you love Everett! He is very much based on my two big brothers, though I turned them into a hybrid.
My favorite side character is such a hard question. Catherine. No, Mrs. Cheng. Oh, Electra really stands out too! For some reason I love Chauncey, although I’d love to toss him off the porch, if you know what I’m saying.
A major part of MAN O’WAR is having to tackle our own internalized racism and cissexism. Was this a difficult process for you to write about? How did you approach writing MAN O’ WAR versus the other books you’ve previously written? Do you think you learn something new about yourself as a writer the more books you write?
I wrote this book differently than the others. It’s rather a potent mixture of naked truth and dramatic fiction. My memories told through a kaleidoscope. Memoir fanfiction, perhaps? I wrote this book to help me escape the trauma of a childhood and early adulthood lived deeply and desperately in the closet. The story helped me heal, and there were so many things that I wrote down that I didn’t know I believed or struggled with until I sat back and read the words aloud. Thankfully, I have an excellent therapist!
Did you always know the ending of MAN O’ WAR?
I always knew the ending because I have a picture of it—from the first time I went to San Francisco. I was living in the Midwest then, and it was a hostile and isolated existence. My spouse had lived in SF before, so we were checking out their favorite haunts, including Ocean Beach. I looked down and realized we were holding hands in our shadow—in public. We couldn’t do that where we lived. It was so simple, so profound. I always knew that River’s freedom meant loving their Indy openly while just…walking down the beach.
What was the inspiration behind Sea Planet? I loved how while this is a contemporary, the setting still screams out in details and smalltown moments and Sea Planet is one of them. How do you approach creating a sense of setting in your contemporary novels?
SeaPlanet is a fictionalization of my lived experience. I grew up down the street from Sea World of Ohio (now long out of business—though there are some great videos about it on youtube!). While I will not say that I sought to capture every detail of the park I knew as a child, most of what became the story were from exhibits I knew well. The good. And the bad.
Do you have a favorite line or scene or chapter? If an alien was given MAN O’ WAR as part of a first contact mission, what would you want them to take away from the book?
I think if an alien read MAN O’ WAR, it might encourage them to take another spin around the galaxy and come back in a few hundred years—ha! Humankind is the hottest damn mess. But a favorite scene…definitely the Halloween shenanigans. And my favorite line in the story captures what the whole story is about, to me: “Other people’s happiness was the worst kind of mind control.”
Find Man O’War on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.
About Cory McCarthy
Cory McCarthy (he/they) is a trans, Arab American screenwriter, whose first script was as comedic mc for his 8th grade talent show. He went on to study screenwriting at UCLA, work with Ohio University’s film department, and partner with Sony Pictures and Josephson Entertainment in the development of the film adaptation of his novel Breaking Sky. Cory edits screenplays through Yellow Bird Editors and teaches postgraduate-level screenwriting.