Check out the rest of our interview with Mary Ann!
Can you describe “Jimmy’s Stars” for our readers?
In one very short sentence….what do you do when someone you love and trust makes a promise that is not within their power to keep?
Did you model any of the characters after yourself or others who are close to you?
As I said previously, some of the characters began life as my aunts and uncles, but as the writing process progressed, they became less like my relatives, and more like completely fictional characters. However, traces of my mom and my youngest aunt remain in Ellie. Jimmy is the most like his real life counterpart, my Uncle Jmmy!
(I know I should’ve changed his name…but I simply could not think of a name that would better express his loving giving nature. And some of Ellie’s reactions to events are things that I thought and felt when I was twelve…which I had readily at hand, thanks to keeping every journal I’ve every written, starting with second grade.”
Were there any parts of the book that you had trouble writing?
Not really. This was one of those rare times when I knew what the whole story was about from the minute I began. When I have trouble is when have holes in my narrative, when I don’t know what happens next.
Have you started writing your next book?
I’m ALWAYS writing at least one picture book and one novel at the same time. I just sold a picture book, CAMP K-9, to Peachtree last week, so I am already working on a new picture book.
The “new”novel is one I have been working on seriously since the day I turned in JIMMY’S STARS, two years ago. This one is slightly older in age (it’s a “young” YA…not because of language or sex, but because of some deep philosophical issues that most ten to twelve year olds don’t have on their radar screens…at least not yet.
Could you give us a little sneak peek on what its about?
It’s called THE STORM, and is about the Great Tri-State Tornado of 1925, which in the space of two hours, roared through three states, killing 1200 people. My father’s hometown of Murphysboro, Illinois was pretty much Ground Zero, with 300 deaths, one of which was my great-grandmother. The question I’m trying to answer is “What happens when your entire life is demolished in two minutes? What if that happens to you when you are nine? Or thirteen? Or seventeen?” It is narrated by three different members of the same family. Don’t start looking for it in your bookstores First I have to finish it (it’s about half finished) and then I have to convince my publisher to buy it!
*Interview questions written by Meagan Anderson and Sharon Choi!
We at By the Book Reviews loved featuring “Jimmy’s Stars” and author Mary Ann Rodman for three days! check out these sites for others who did the same!
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