Julia Sullivan
Author Interview - Julia Sullivan
Author of Bone Necklace
Bone Necklace is inspired by America's last "Indian war," in which a small band of Nez Perce held off four converging armies while their families escaped to Canada. Other books have been written about the 500+ Nez Perce who were captured or killed during the war. Bone Necklace is unique in its focus on the nearly 300 who escaped.
Bone Necklace is a tale of survival in which the Nez Perce not only overcome staggering odds but also win the grudging respect of a war-weary nation. While deeply rooted in American history, this remarkable story continues to resonate, illuminating modern debates around institutional racism, journalistic bias, and the call for courage in times of moral crisis.
Author Interview - Mary Camarillo
Author I draw inspiration from: Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is probably my favorite book ever. Other influences include Ivan Doig's Dancing at the Rascal Fair, Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It, Cormac McCarthy's All The Pretty Horses, and Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose. I like these books for different reasons, but all of them transport the reader to another time and place so convincingly, it's almost as if you've met each of the characters and shared something important together. Their stories feel authentic. The scenery, particularly in Stegner's work, is sublime. The use of language is exquisite. With McCarthy, even the sentence structure communicates something important. All of these writers are true masters.
Author Interview - Julia Sullivan | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book: The big green chair in our den, in front of the fireplace, with the dog lying beside me and a mug of tea in my hand. Hard to beat on a cold, windy day.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: That's easy. Gus McCrae, from Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove. Favorite Gus quotes:
"It’s fearsome for a man to have a woman start thinking right in front of him. It always leads to trouble.”
"If you want one thing too much it’s likely to be a disappointment. The healthy way is to learn to like the everyday things, like soft beds and buttermilk—and feisty gentlemen."
"I'm just tryin' to keep everything in balance, Woodrow. You do more work than you got to, so it's my obligation to do less."
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: Oh, I've always known. I just didn't have the courage to do it until I'd practiced law for thirty years and could afford to go without an income for a while! I've loved books my whole life. My mom introduced me to Agatha Christie mysteries and I was hooked. But historical fiction is my favorite.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: I like ebooks because I can increase the size and darkness of the font so it's easier to read. When I'm running or at the gym, I like audiobooks. I just finished listening to Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet. Wow. It was amazing.
The last book I read: Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch (2014 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction).
At 881 pages, The Goldfinch is a commitment. I would have liked a book half as long twice as much. But this novel is exquisite, with gorgeous language, colorful characters, and a plot filled with tragedy, suspense, and, ultimately, redemption.
Thirteen-year-old Theodore Decker survives a series of calamities that leave him orphaned and rudderless in New York. He is tormented by an unbearable longing for his mother, and clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a small, 17th century painting of a goldfinch tethered to a wall. He steals the painting, loses it, and goes off in search of it, all while getting drawn more deeply into a criminal underworld. The painting becomes, for him, “the missing kingdom, the unbruised part of myself I’d lost with my mother.”
Theo provokes, at various times, the reader’s sympathy, anger, and exhaustion. But the plot pulls us forward, reading late into the night. According to Theo, life is a catastrophe. It ends badly for all of us. Death always wins. And yet there is beauty. The best we can do is to pull beautiful things from the fire, “preserve them and save them” and pass them along to the next generation, “singing out brilliantly from the wreck of time.”
The idea of wresting beauty from the wreckage of life is one of the themes of Bone Necklace.
Author Interview - Julia Sullivan | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer: Computer. I can't read my own handwriting.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Maeve Conroy from Anne Patchett's The Dutch House, narrated by Tom Hanks.
The Dutch House is a story about family, overindulgence, and letting go. The plot is the stuff of fairy tales – a sister and brother raised in decadent luxury, only to be denied their rightful inheritance and plunged into poverty by a grasping stepmother. It isn’t the plot but the relationship between these two siblings – Maeve and Danny – that gives the novel its hook.
Maeve is smart as a whip, funny, loyal, and incredibly forgiving. I know lots of people but I only have a handful of lifelong friends. I can well imagine Maeve becoming one of them.
Author Interview - Julia Sullivan | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: Lawyer. While I was writing Bone Necklace, I was also practicing law, sometimes as a sole practitioner, sometimes as a partner in a global law firm. As a lawyer, I had opportunities to represent Native Americans, African Americans, Latin Americans, wrongfully convicted prisoners, death row inmates, battered women, and undocumented immigrants. I have always tried to speak out about injustice wherever I have found it. The more I found out about the Nez Perce, the more I had to write Bone Necklace.
Favorite decade in fashion history: I don't know that I have a favorite decade. I would say that I tend to be perpetually five years behind. About the time I get used to a new fashion, and start to actually like it enough to wear, the world has moved on. I pretty much stick with jeans and t-shirts, preferably very soft ones, and sometimes a hat.
Place I’d most like to travel: I've never been to Australia or New Zealand. I'm an animal lover so it would be really exciting to see kangaroos, koalas, and platypuses, and I'd love to do some hiking, scuba diving, and beach naps.
My signature drink: I lost a beloved family member to alcohol, so I mostly drink tea. The warmth soothes me.
Favorite artist: Brent Cotton. His landscapes, and the way he paints light, are spectacular. He's done a number of paintings of the American west, which are particularly beautiful. http://www.cottonfinearts.com/index.html
I also love Mike Williams, who drives all over Montana doing amazing landscape photography. https://montanaphotography.instaproofs.com/gallery/#events
In terms of music, it's hard to beat The Eagles, the soundtrack of my youth.
Number one on my bucket list: Travel. I want to see everything. In addition to Australia and New Zealand, I want to see China, Japan, and the Arctic (and Antarctic). I want float the Missouri River and the Salmon and the Snake. I want to do the whole Nez Perce Trail on horseback. Shall I go on?
Anything else you'd like to add: If you'd like more information about Bone Necklace, please visit my website: www.juliasullivanauthor.com
Find more from the author:
https://www.facebook.com/Julia-Elizabeth-Sullivan-Author-108292944333886
https://www.instagram.com/juliasullivanauthor/
Twitter: @JuliaSullivan10
Author Bio: Julia Sullivan is an American lawyer, an English solicitor, and an international arbitrator. Bone Necklace is her first novel.
