Author Interviews
Sarah L. Thomson interviewed on WCSH6-TV Morning Report
Q&A with Author Sarah L. Thomson (Interview Courtesy of Islandport Press.)
Q: Where you did get the inspiration for Mercy?
A: Mercy was one of those books that popped into my head as the result of a bit of recreational research. I was wandering about on the web, idly searching for vampire legends from different cultures. Weren’t there any Asian vampires, or African vampires? Was the eastern European tradition, the one that gave us Dracula and his spawn, all there was?
What I ended up stumbling across was not folklore, but a startling historical fact: in 1893 in Exeter, Rhode Island, the corpse of an eighteen-year-old girl named Mercy Brown was disinterred and mutilated because her family and friends were convinced she was a vampire. I was surprised and intrigued to find a vampire legend so close to hand and so modern – chewing gum had been patented, bicycles were becoming popular, and the first professional baseball team was playing at the time Mercy’s community was taking steps to rid itself of the vampire in its midst. Mercy and her family became the basis for my young adult novel.
Q: What were your favorite books as a child? What do you remember reading?
A: I remember constantly stealing my brother’s copy of Lord of the Rings, and learning to move the books on either side of it in a little bit, so as not to leave a gap on the shelf that he would notice. I remember the Hardy Boys series too (with their bright blue spines) and the Tintin graphic novels. The Little Princess was another, such a comforting book – the lush descriptions were a sensual delight.
Q: What is the most useful thing you have done in your past to prepare you to write this book?
A: Learning to read attentively and critically is my best habit as a writer. The minute I read something I like, or something that scares me, or something that makes me cry, I’m picking it apart to see how the writer did it. How did he/she connect with my emotions, catch my attention, shock or astonish me? Paying attention to the structure of other books helps me no end when it comes to writing my own.
Q: How did you get started as a writer? How did you know that’s what you wanted to do?
A: Well, nobody would pay me to read, so I had to figure something else out. And anyway, I have to admit that reading all day, every day, wouldn’t quite satisfy me – because I have this quirk. No matter how much I like a book (or a movie, or a TV show, for that matter) some part of my brain is always re-writing it – changing the ending, giving a minor character more prominence, making sure my favorite people don’t get killed off. I just can’t keep my sticky little fingers off narrative; I always want to do it my way. Writing books is the only way I know to be in complete control of the story, to let it all come out exactly as I want it to.
Q: What books are on your bedside table right now?
A: Mary Poppins Comes Back by P.L. Travers (for comfort) and The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith (to scare me to death)
Q: What are you working on right now?
A: My next project is a lullaby picture book, Around the Neighborhood. I wrote it for my daughter, now almost three years old. She used to burst into tears any time I tried to sing it to her.
