Kathryn Sullivan and a Dad's Love of Sci-Fi

Kathryn Sullivan has been writing science fiction and fantasy since she was 14 years old. Having read her father’s collection of sf and fantasy, she started writing her own. Any place and any object is at risk of appearing in her stories – the river bluffs surrounding Winona, MN, where she lives, can become the windswept cliffs of an alien planet or the deep mysterious woods of a fantasy tale. She is owned by a large cockatoo, who graciously allows her to write about other animals, as well as birdlike aliens.

Tell us a bit about your most recent work.

Talking to Trees is the sequel to The Crystal Throne. Both are portal fantasies, where kids from our world are pulled into a magical world with wizards and elves and talking horses.  Talking to Trees also has gryphons and trees that talk to those who can listen.

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

I like to write portal fantasies.  But I also like to include psi powers, whether they are considered science fiction or fantasy, clashes with other cultures, and people trying to do the right thing.

What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer? 

My dad's science fiction collection.  I had read everything in it (back in the days when it was possible to read all the science fiction available) at the age of 14 and decided that I could write it as well.

What inspires you to write?

So many things. Soundtracks. Looking at a forest and thinking about who or what lives there. The works in the Art Show at a science fiction convention. I wrote one short story when I looked around my college campus and tried to picture an alien trying to navigate it. Science and archeology discoveries.