Author Interviews

Get to know Mary…

Mary Sullivan will publish her first YA novel Dear Blue Sky (Penguin) on Aug 2, 2012.  She is the author of Ship Sooner and Stay, and has ghostwritten for the Beacon Street Girls series.  Her awards include the Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant, the Rona Jaffe Foundation Award and a St. Botolph’s Award for Literature.  She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and four young children. Check out her site here.

Let the conversation begin!

What is your very favorite part of the day? 

Morning.  I get up between 4 and 5 to work because it is the only time our house is quiet (I have two kids home with me and two in school).  Even if I have to listen for someone waking early, I am so free during these early hours.  If I sleep late, I’m usually grouchy for the rest of the day. 

What is your best scar? How did you get it? 

When I was thirteen, I wanted a horse so badly I would have done anything.  I found a Morab (1/2 Morgan, 1/2 Arabian) gelding, Rookie, to take care of for 3 years while the owner went on military leave.  But Rookie was very green (not properly trained).  One afternoon when I went out to get him from the field, he cantered toward me with his ears flat, turned, spun and kicked.  I have a long scar on the top of my head from his hoof. 

You win a million dollars and you give half to a charity. Which charity do you pick, and what do you do with the rest of the money?

With half the money, I would buy meals for poor families for months, give to World Vision, Food for the Poor, Wildlife Federation, and Veterans.  With the other half I’d get a driveway, a patio, a clubhouse for the kiddos, buy prepared food from Whole Foods so I didn’t have to cook, and give a big chunk to my mother.  Then a trip to Niagra Falls would be in order, and for that we may need a new car.  Shall I go on? 

You are planning a dinner party. Which three celebrities or historical figures would you invite to keep the dinner talk interesting? 

Emily Dickinson, Cormac McCarthy, and Jesus Christ.  

If you were blind for the rest of your life, what would you miss seeing most?  

My children’s faces.   

What chore do you hate the most?  

Organizing the storage area of the basement where I throw everything I don’t want to deal with. 

Crunchy Peanut Butter or Smooth?

 Definitely crunchy. 

When have you laughed the hardest?  

Most recently, watching America’s Funniest Videos.  I love slapstick. 

If you were a pirate, what would your name be? 

Tyrone.  I often play pirates with my two-year old who is in love with the Backyardigans.  He is always Tasha (he wears a skirt to dance) and I am Tyrone, and I say, waving my hands, “Who goes there?” and we clank our swords together.