Ask the Author: M.H. Sullivan
Answered Questions (8)
M.H. Sullivan
I use a lot of dialog. I think that dialog – the things people say to each other and how they respond – define who they are and underpin their relationships. We get to know each other through conversation, so I always want to get the dialog right. I don’t spend nearly the same amount of time with descriptions of my characters because I think readers imagine the characters for themselves, so beyond giving them a sense of the character’s age and a few signature characteristics, I let the reader determine what they look like. The dialog, on the other hand, defines them.
M.H. Sullivan
I wanted to write a sort of “coming of age” story for an older woman who has already lived life – worked and had a career, raised children and all the rest -- but who has suddenly been forced to reinvent herself. In this case Meara’s husband has died leaving her with lots of "couple" plans that won’t work now that she’s on her own. She feels she still has a lot of living left in her so the book is the story of how she figures out the next chapter of her life.
M.H. Sullivan
I've always been a "thinker" and dreamer so writing is a natural outgrowth of my temperament. They say you should find a vocation that you love if you want to live a fulfilling life. If you can say "I'd pay someone to LET me do this!" then you know you've found the right career. The downside is that doing what you love sometimes necessitates having a paying "day job".
M.H. Sullivan
My husband had some medical problems a few years ago (he's in perfect health now, thank God). It was the first time I realized that I could end up a widow and I wondered how I would handle the whole "What Next?" question. Jet Trails: Looking for Blue Skies was a chance to explore the idea, albeit with a decidedly romantic twist.
M.H. Sullivan
My "day job" these past 20 or 30 years has been technical writing and it's been the best "training" I could've had. It forced me to focus on writing in a way that creative writing doesn't -- the nitty-gritty noun-adjective-verb explaining of sometimes complicated things. So, when I sit down to write creatively -- a novel, memoir, short story, poetry -- I get to focus on plot, characters, dialog, and the way words sound and make me feel. It's like being given a gift.
M.H. Sullivan
I'm working on a sequel to Jet Trails: Looking for Blue Skies. I love these characters and have all sorts of ideas that I couldn't address in the first book.
M.H. Sullivan
You've heard it before, no doubt, but the best advice is to write and to write and then to write some more. As Malcolm Gladwell has said, it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become world-class at anything.
M.H. Sullivan
I don't know if I've ever really had writer's block, although if you count procrastination...well, that's another story. I find if I sit down and just start writing ANYTHING, it gets things moving and the words come. Usually I'll start by writing in my journal about the day's events, people and ideas I've had and soon I'm on my way. If that doesn't work, I'll edit the previous day's work to get back into the story.
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