Creativity + Resourcefulness = Cottage for Sale, Must Be Moved

At first, Kate Whouley didn't want to write her memoir, Cottage for Sale, Must Be Moved: A Woman Moves a House to Make a Home. Rather, she said, she was busy working on a novel, handling bookstore-consulting projects, and mulling over a children's book based on the cottage-moving adventure.

"I was never going to commit to a full-length book, because I had such loyalty to the novel I was doing. And I always had a kids' book [about the experience] in mind -- the heavy equipment, the big colors ... I thought it would be a cool kids' book," she explained.

There eventually will be a children's book, but for now Whouley is busy promoting Cottage, which was published in May by Commonwealth Editions, and voted a Book Sense Top Ten pick. The book is an engaging and thoughtful one, rife with funny moments, fascinating character sketches -- and lots of details about what it took to move a cottage from one Cape Cod town to another, "marry" it to Whouley's house, and make it part of her home. (And yes, there are photos, too.)

Whouley said she decided to write the book once she "realized how many great characters there were ... and that when the project was over, I missed it. It was a lot of fun, and I could relive it by writing the book." She turned to her piles of photos and mental storehouse of memories; e-mails written to friends were also helpful in recapturing what she saw, felt, and thought at the time. "I had an e-mail journal, in a way," she said.

Not that it was overly difficult, really, to call to mind the events of the house-moving project -- the process was fraught with many small dramas (Will the cottage fit between the house and the cranberry bog? Will the plumbing ever work properly? Will Egypt the cat approve?) and plenty of unforgettable personalities. Key figures were Whouley's friends and helpers, "The Bog Boys"; as well as Mr. Hayden the house-mover; and a bevy of Cape Cod firefighters who moonlighted as construction-workers and electricians -- most of whom gave Whouley permission to use their real names in the book.

Kate Whouley

"So far," said Whouley, "the [characters'] responses have been good-humored. I was most worried about Mr. Hayden because he became the book's comic relief … but he chuckled when he read it, bought 18 copies, and sent them to his colleagues in the business."

Relations between Whouley and the workers were for the most part good-humored as well, with occasional moments of miscommunication or, say, unbearable tension (for example, the passages that describe lowering the house into place may induce in readers a bit of sympathetic nail-biting). Overall, though, Whouley said she felt as if the project remained hers, despite the army of people enlisted to assist her: "In bookstore projects, there is usually a team, but here I really got to make spontaneous decisions and have autonomy."

However, she added, "I did have to prove my worth as a consultant to my own project, from contacting Mr. Hayden and convincing him I was serious to making decisions about plumbing." There was, she recalled, "an initial inclination not to take me seriously." Her years as a consultant to bookstores (she founded Books in Common in 1988, and worked as a bookseller and buyer before that) came in handy, though: "Because I had the vocabulary already, and was not afraid to ask questions, I was very much accepted as one of the gang. We did talk every day, and collaborated."

Whouley acknowledged that some might think putting on an addition would have been simpler than moving a cottage to her property -- but creativity and resourcefulness were key motivators, as well as monetary considerations. "Because I lived and worked from home, I was always looking for a way to add on without creating much disruption. It was also cheaper ... and there is the underlying theme of imagination, of being able to imagine it could happen and finding others who would imagine it would be possible."

Also important was Whouley's willingness to accomplish a feat of imagination, despite the risks: "I did have to make the decision to buy the cottage before I knew the town would let me ... but I was not afraid of the construction process, not afraid to be in the middle of chaos. A key element of any creative act is that it generates chaos, whether a book or a construction project."

And when chaos came in Cottage for Sale, Whouley didn't gloss over it; she recounted the events, and mused on what the problem was, how it could be solved, and how she felt about it. Her straightforward voice is the backbone of the book -- she is honest about her crush on one of the workers, her attempts to ensure the men accept her as an equal, and (in one of the funniest vignettes in the book) the fact she was in the ladies' room as her cottage passed by a key spot on its trip to its eventual resting place.

Whouley also doesn't shy away from pondering the marriage of her cottage and her house, and what it's like to be single and 40-something herself. She said of the book's honesty, "When I am sitting alone in a room writing, I just have to write what's true. As a reader, especially of memoir, I get annoyed when the narrator is hiding." And, she admitted, "Now that the book is published, I feel a little nervous whenever someone reads it. But I felt I had to be honest and truthful or there'd be no point."

Determination also played a role in that period of Whouley's life: remaining confident the cottage-house melding would work, and staying sure that the book would work, too. She said, "Working on books about bookselling -- including an IBID tutorial! -- taught me I have the stamina for long projects, and can actually begin and finish a book. I deeply enjoy the writing process, and want to have more of it in my life."

Working with Commonwealth Editions, an independent press based in Massachusetts, was a fine way to round out the experience, Whouley said, noting that the Cottage manuscript was rejected by 17 New York publishing houses before Whouley's agent found Commonwealth Editions.

It has, said Whouley, "been a wonderful marriage, if you will. It fits my independent-bookstore sensibility to work with an independent press, and it's been a writer's dream to be involved in so many of the decisions." And, she points out, "they were courteous enough to get my reaction to the cover, the design, the font -- that would've never happened in a larger house. I had a great publishing experience … to be a strong vote in that process was a thrill and a relief."

Another thrill came with her recent participation in the Book Sense Reading Room at Book Expo America. "It's my favorite part of BEA, listening to writers reading. I always end up crying -- it reminds me of why I'm in the business, and to be invited is just beyond words," she said, adding, "In a lot of ways, everything I've been doing all my life has led to this." --Linda Castellitto