Q&A with 2012 Featured Author Mary Downing Hahn
Mary Downing Hahn has been writing children’s books for more than 30 years and is a perennial favorite with readers. Her books have sold more than 2 million copies and consistently win state children’s choice awards. Mary’s work spans a variety of genres, but she is best known for her ghost stories and mysteries. Beginning with “Wait Till Helen Comes,” now a classic that has been in print, selling steadily, for more than 20 years, Ms. Hahn has created an oeuvre of well-loved spine-chilling tales including “The Doll in the Garden,” “A Time for Andrew,” and “The Old Willis Place.” “Mister Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls,” her latest book, will be released in April.
Where do you find inspiration?
Memories, observations, imagination, history
What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
Tell your story well and do not give up if your manuscript is rejected. I sent my first manuscript to seven publishers before it was accepted and even then I had to revise it seven times before the editor decided it was ready to print.
What are you reading right now?
I just finished “The Hunger Games” which I enjoyed and am about to begin Peter Cameron’s new novel.
What book has inspired or affected you in some way?
I read “Catcher in the Rye” when I was sixteen, and Salinger’s informal writing style definitely influenced my own style.
If you could sit down at dinner with three other authors, living or dead, which three authors would you choose, and why?
J.D. Salinger, even though I know he wouldn’t accept the invitation being dead and all and pretty cranky when he was alive, but still I’d like to tell him how much his books meant to me when I was young. I’d also pick Carson McCullers so I could tell her how much I loved “Member of the Wedding” because I was more like Frankie than anyone knew, even me. Last I ‘d choose Mark Twain. He’d entertain us with wonderful stories and make even Salinger laugh. If Salinger did not accept my invitation, I’d choose T.C. Boyle because I think he’s one of the best living American writers and it would be an honor to share dinner with him. Others on the B list would be Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, JRR Tolkien, and Reginald Hill.