Interview with Mary O’Sullivan
Q: I read on your website that your passion was always writing. How were you finally able to break into the industry?
A: I sent the manuscript of my first novel, Parting Company, to Pooolbeg Press in Ireland, more in hope than expectation. I didn’t hear back from them for a while so I was bracing myself for rejection when Poolbeg director, Paula Campbell, rang to offer me a three book contract. That is a moment I will always treasure. Of course it takes hard work and many, many hours of writing and re-writing to produce a manuscript that will interest a publisher but I also believe that good old-fashioned luck plays a part too. I certainly feel very lucky to have had my stories published.
Q: Where do the ideas for your stories come from?
A: I always start with a subject or situation that interests me and I ask the question ‘what if?’ For instance in my first novel, Parting Company – what if someone discovered the cure for cancer? In As Easy As That the question was, what if you suspected your boss of being involved in criminal activity? I have covered topics in my books such as post traumatic stress disorder, the possibility that ghosts exist and religious cults. But no matter what the background to a story, the characters and how they deal with the situations are the most important and satisfying element in writing a book.
Q: What is the best part about being a full time writer?
A: It has to be the freedom to write whenever you like. I spent many years working full-time as a lab technician, always with story ideas in my head but no time to develop them. Now if I feel like writing into the small hours, I can do so without being worried about getting up early to go to my job. I currently work harder and put in longer hours than I have ever done but every minute of it is a pleasure.
Q: You have 5 published novels. Do you have one in particular that you really loved either writing or doing research for?
A: This is a hard question to answer as each of my novels is important to me in its own way. The first, of course, will always hold a special place in my heart. Both my parents died from cancer and writing a fictional cure for the disease in Parting Company was very helpful as part of the grieving process. Under The Rainbow, my latest book, is also very special as it is the only novel I’ve written in the first person. Telling the story in the main character’s voice rather than third person allowed me to get to know everything about Adele Burke, even things she probably wouldn’t want me to know!
The most interesting research I’ve done is for my next novel Time And Tide (Apr 2011). For this book I read up on Climate Change and studied both sides of the Global Warming argument. In my reading I came across the curious fact that the Maya calendar ends on December 31st 2012. Many believe this means the world will end on that date though what the Maya predicted was a change rather than an ending.
Q: What do you find most difficult about the writing process?
A: Probably letting go. It takes at least a year for me to write a novel. In that time I live with the characters and their story day in, day out. I love them all, even the baddies as they are fun to write. Then comes the day when you type THE END. Silly as it seems, I always feel lonely when I finish a book. The only cure is to start another one.
Q: Do you have a certain area that you get all your writing done?
A:I have a small office into which I have squashed all my favourite things – two book cases, family photos, my collection of stones from special places I have been, Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have A Dream ‘poster and a large wall map of the world. A stack of CD’s sits on my desk as I always play music when I write- each book has its own individual soundtrack. It’s a cosy little room and conveniently close to the kitchen for the endless cups of coffee.
Q: Have you ever had an idea for a plot or character at a strange place or time?
A:I got the idea for Under The Rainbow as I was sitting in a seaside café having coffee (again!) with a group of friends. I wondered if childhood friends who had gone their separate ways could meet up as adults and resume their friendship with the same intensity. This thought raised many more questions in my mind and the end result of mulling over the answers was Under The Rainbow.
Q: Who are some of your favorite authors?
A: John Irving – The World According To Garp is one of my all-time favourite novels ; Jodi Picoult ; John Connolly ; Sebastian Barry; Val McDermid; MandaSue Heller; Mary Malone ; Walter Macken and many ,many more authors who have given me hours of pleasure reading their wonderful work.
Q: Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Any fun celebration stories?
A: I certainly celebrate St Patrick’s Day. It’s a great day to be Irish. I remember a year when the shamrock did not grow very well. My mother went searching for some and arrived home with lovely sprays which we proudly wore on St Patrick’s Day. It was much later before she admitted that the sprays we had worn on March 17th had actually been clover and not shamrock at all. At least it didn’t affect our celebrations and I’m sure St Patrick forgave us!
Q: What would be your best advice for aspiring writers?
A: My advice would be to never give up and to take hope from my history. I had been writing since I was a child but being occupied in full-time work and rearing a family I believed my chance to be a published author had passed me by. I eventually got my lucky break and I would advise anyone with the passion to write to keep working hard on your manuscript and your opportunity will come too.
Q: Is there any place in the world that you would love to travel to?
A: Reading Stephen King and John Connolly piqued my interest in Maine, USA. I based part of my fourth novel, Inside Out there. I researched the state thoroughly, read books on it, got maps and visited on-line Maine sites. The more I learned about the scenery, the history, the uniqueness of Maine, the more I wanted to visit there. A trip to beautiful Maine is definitely on my wish list.
