Mark Sullivan: Write the Thing That Scares You
Mark Sullivan is the acclaimed author of more than 20 novels, including the #1 Amazon Charts, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky, and the #1 New York Times bestselling Private series, which he writes with James Patterson. Mark has received numerous awards for his writing, including the WHSmith Fresh Talent Award, and his works have been named a New York Times Notable Book and a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year. Follow him on Facebook.
Mark Sullivan
Photo by Amelia Anne Photgraphy
In this interview, Mark discusses the best untold story he’d ever heard that led to his new historical fiction novel, All the Glimmering Stars, how COVID delayed his research, and more!
Name: Mark Sullivan
Literary agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency
Book title: All the Glimmering Stars
Publisher: Lake Union
Release date: May 7, 2024
Genre/category: Historical Fiction
Previous titles: Beneath A Scarlet Sky; The Last Green Valley
Elevator pitch: A searing and triumphant historical novel based on the true story of two Ugandan teens kidnapped in the early 1990s along with 35,000 others, and forced by a warlord to become child soldiers, a dehumanizing process. But Anthony Opoka and Florence Okori meet and fall in love halfway through their decade in captivity; and the power of their love allows them to resurrect their humanity, to escape, and to testify against the warlord at the Hague war crimes trial.
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What prompted you to write this book?
It was the best untold story I’d ever heard. I was approached in late 2019 by a SEAL Team Six Commander and a former CIA Station Chief, who had heard the tale in Uganda and tried to make a documentary out of it. They believed if properly told as a novel it could end child soldiering forever. After hearing the tale, I agreed and set out to bring the story to life on the page.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
The pandemic delayed me from going to Uganda to research the book by 12 months, so almost four and a half years will have passed from idea to publication. Though I did work through multiple drafts of what happened to Anthony Opoka and Florence Okori, the idea has not changed.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
There were difficult scenes that Anthony and Florence described to me that could have turned off some readers. But those scenes had to be in the book, or readers would not understand the depths of their plight. Some writers might have glossed them over or omitted them all together for fear they’d botch the narrative. But I’ve found that the best thing you can do is face the fears that accompany such creative challenges because behind them usually lies the kind of deep, meaningful, dramatic actions and moral choices that I want front and central in my novels.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
One of the big scenes in the novel describes a pregnant Florence trying to protect her toddler son while going into labor and giving birth alone during a gun battle in the Nile River bottom. With the fight still raging, she straps her infant son to her chest, puts her older boy in a pack on her back, picks up her AK-47, and blazes her way out of combat. I was awestruck hearing it in person from Florence and did not know if I could do the scene justice when I sat down to write it. The surprise was that the writing needed little of me other than a faithful depiction of what Florence had told me. Sometimes you just need to get out of the way.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
What others already have. An early reader described All the Glimmering Stars as “something tender and rare, the story of two profoundly good people striving for light in unfathomable darkness. It is a joy and an inspiration.”
Another called the story of Anthony and Florence “an extraordinary narrative of love and unwavering resilience” and their journey “a luminous symbol of hope amid a world fractured by relentless violence and turmoil.” That’s pretty much what I hope all readers get out of the novel.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Write the thing that scares you, that challenges your skills and sensibilities, causes you to push beyond the envelope of your past. Face such situations and limitations head on because they invariably demand and yield your best writing.
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