Recently Rated:
Stats
An Interview With Jenny Sullivan - Author Of ''Totally Batty
AmeriCymru spoke to Welsh author and novelist Jenny Sullivan about her new book Totally Batty and her plans for Christmas. Jenny is the author of many children''s books including Tirion''s Secret Journal and Full Moon which won the prestigious Tir na n-Og award in 2006 and 2012 respectively. She is currently working on a series of historical novels based on the life of Owain Glyndwr . Jenny was born in Cardiff and now lives in France. She travels to Wales to work with school students on a regular basis.
....
....
....
Jenny: I think it''s funnier that "Full Moon" and I like the title better, too. I wasn''t allowed my original title for "Full Moon" which was "As Mad As A Box Of Frogs" which was a pity, because "Full Moon" is the title of several other books that aren''t by me!
AmeriCymru: ''Totally Batty'' is the sequel to the Tir na n-Og Award-winning novel Full Moon. Care to tell us more about the earlier book?
Jenny: It''s about a (fairly) typical Welsh family living somewhere in the Welsh Valleys. The plot centres on Nia, whose Aunty, Gwen''s hobby is running a sort of underground railway (as in the Deep South during slavery) but for supernatural beings. When Gwen is mugged for her pension and winds up in hospital she asks Nia to go to her house and leave out some food for a visitor... Nia quickly discovers that the ragged boy she finds in her Aunt''s basement is actually a werewolf. The sub-plot concerns Nia''s sister Ceri, who has been discovered by an agent and has a new career as a TV star, and Nia''s Mam, who desperately wants to act but can''t. The family is as mad as a box of frogs and very Welsh. I had a lot of fun writing it and liked the characters too much to let them go. Which is why "Totally Batty" was written. This book may contain the only recorded case of vampire headlice. Think about it...
AmeriCymru: When last we spoke you were researching part three of your trilogy of novels based on the life of Owain Glyndwr, “Silver Fox ~ the long Amen” . How is the novel coming along?
Jenny: Slowly. I''ve only managed about 50 pages. It''s been one of those years. I seem to have been running as fast as I can just to stay in the same place. And of course Owain has to be researched so I don''t make any historical howlers.
AmeriCymru: Any other projects in the pipeline?
Jenny: A sequel to "The Great Cake Bake" (that came out in September), called " The Great Granny Hunt" and I''m sort of walking around a novel full of teenage angst, though teenage books are notoriously hard to sell. Apparently teenagers don''t read. Or so I''m told.
AmeriCymru: What will you be doing for Christmas this year?
Jenny: This is where I wear a great big smile. We''re going over to the UK to spend three days with my eldest daughter and her partner Art and my three Grandchildren, 8 year old Daisy, 6 year old Tove and The Boy, Dylan, who is 3, doesn''t know his own strength and has been known to knock me off my feet in his haste to get a cwtch. They''re in North Weald in Essex. Then we go on to Ealing in London to spend a couple of days with my middle daughter Tanith and her husband Daz, (who is recovering from a massive heart attack three years ago). I can''t wait and am getting what Tanith calls "silly and excited ". If only we could also see our youngest, Stephanie, too, but she''s living in Northern Ireland with her husband Conall and their two children Catrin and Joseph and we can''t be in two places simultaneously. Joe was born in January and I spent nearly three weeks over there on Granny duty, including taking over the night feeds. I was a wreck when I came home! I last saw them all together in July on holiday en famille in Fishguard, which was uncharacteristically sunny the whole time. Magical!
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Jenny: Yes - I''m Patron of Reading to three primary schools in South Wales. This involves a visit to each at least once a year and a monthly newsletter from me to them all with news, projects, reading suggestions, challenges and competitions. If there''s someone involved with a U.S. school reading this, and would like me to be Patron to their school too, please get in touch. I can only manage one more school, so it will be first come, first served. I can''t promise an annual visit, however! I would like to love there to be a Welsh-American link and perhaps the schools themselves might develop links eventually.
My web page is The Magic Apostrophe page and most, if not all of my books (there are some that are contributions only) are listed on AmeriCymru
