A warm welcome today to Susan McCormick, fab author of the Fog Ladies mystery series. Today she’s talking mothers and sons, the subject of her new suspense book, The Room at the End of the Hall. Take it away, Susan!

---

WHERE ARE THE MOTHERS AND SONS?

“Men are what their mothers made them.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

My new book, The Room at the End of the Hall, is a mother/son suspense in which an estranged mother and son with a buried secret are forced to team up to save the son’s medical career, the lives of his patients, and their own. The themes made me wonder about famous mother/son collaborations and why I couldn’t think of any. Turns out, there aren’t many.

Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters—these pairings are common. I’m not thinking of famous and successful parents and famous and successful children, like Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper, but a parent and adult child actually joining forces. There are father/son and mother/daughter celebrities, authors, sports figures, and business people who work together, act together, create together, and collaborate. Each brings their own talents and expertise to the union, rather than a successful parent offering a child an opportunity. These pairs include Eugene and Dan Levy, Jerry and Ben Stiller, Donald and Keifer Sutherland, Kirk and Michael Douglas, Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow, Carrie Fisher and Billie Lourde, Diane Ladd and Laura Dern (all actors), Mary and Carol Higgens Clark (mystery writers), Arlene Eisenberg and daughters Heidi Murkoff and Sandee Hathaway (What to Expect When You’re Expecting), Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman (Golem and Clay Edison book series), LeBron and Bronny James (basketball stars), Ken Griffrey Sr and Jr (baseball stars), Mario and Michael Andretti (racing drivers), plus endless examples in the business world. The list goes on and on.

But try to find mother/son collaborations… This is much harder. Many men credit their mothers with their success, such as Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Stephen Curry, saying their mothers provided the discipline, work ethic, and unending support that shaped their success. But true collaborations are rare.

Shirley Jones and David Cassidy (photo by Mike Meadows, Los Angeles Times, cropped and used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license)

Here are a few, because I couldn’t find many more:

• Shirley Jones and David Cassidy in The Partridge Family (they each won their roles independently), plus Shirley Jones and Shaun, Ryan, and Patrick Cassidy (several collaborations)
• Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Jr (he started starring on her show while in his teens, so maybe not entirely fair)
• Elizabeth and Damian Hurley (he wrote and directed and she starred in a very poorly reviewed movie)
• Maria Shriver and Patrick Schwarzenegger (they started a protein bar company)
• Carolyn and David Watjen (the writing duo Caroline and Charles Todd)
• Estee and Leonard Lauder—she started the company and he expanded it into a world-wide brand

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Jr (photo in the public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

Ideally, mother-son collaborations are based on emotional support, similar values, shared vision, and mutual respect. There is an inherent trust and understanding that can aid communication, fuel creativity, enrich the whole experience, and hopefully ensure common goals. My book, on the other hand, explores mother/son tensions and failures, ruined life dreams, plus revenge and murder. No one would want to be part of this team. But they eventually make it work and come out much stronger than either acting alone. That is the beauty and magic of the mother/son bond.

Readers: Can you think of a mother/son team? How did it work out?

Bio

Susan McCormick is an award-winning writer and doctor who lives in Seattle. She writes a cozy murder mystery series, The Fog Ladies, and she also wrote Granny Can’t Remember Me, a lighthearted picture book about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and The Antidote, a middle grade to adult medical fantasy. She is married with two sons, and though she loves them dearly, she does not cry murder at every son major life setback.

Social Media Links:

https://susanmccormickbooks.com

https://www.facebook.com/susanmccormickauthor/

https://www.instagram.com/susanmccormickbooks/

Purchase links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Room-at-End-Hall-ebook/dp/B0FFM4PS7C

B & N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-room-at-the-end-of-the-hall-susan-mccormick/1147799775

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/22704/9780998618777