Interview with Mary Danino

Interview with Mary Danino, author of

Ado in the Meadow

Questions: R. Murry

Can you tell me a little about yourself?

I’m Mary Danino. I live by the sea side, along the eastern Mediterranean shore in a lovely city called Ashdod in Israel.

I spent all my early childhood in Ashdod, Israel. After my military service in the Israeli Air Force, I went to the university and studied, of all things, Physics & Chemistry. It was fun but apparently not my destiny although I’ll always have a warm spot in my heart for physics (I love it!). When my son Roy was born, we lived in Arad, a small city close to the Dead Sea area. There I worked with people from all over the world for quite a number of years. Meeting all kinds of people from different countries and cultures fascinated me. My second son, Guy, was born shortly before we moved back to Ashdod, in which we still live. What really curious is, that although I always loved to write and was truly hooked on being a writer, I never did it seriously. Just now, this last year, I'm actually writing stories. So you see, it's never too late.

Do you remember the first story you wrote?

Yes, it was in the sixth grade. A young student came to our class and asked if we would like to answer some questions for a research she was doing. One of the questions was, “What would we want to do when we grow up”, I immediately said, “A writer”, so she asked me to write a short story, which I did.  I don’t even remember what the story was about, I just remember her saying, after reading the story, that she was really impressed. 

Were you inspired by someone or something?

Since I remember myself I knew I want to be a writer, I can’t even tell how, or what lead to it. I love reading. As a kid I read up to 6 books a week. I’m always creating stories in my mind. When my sons were young and we would drive long distances, I used to make up stories for them. Many of our outdoor walks would be accompanied with stories I made up about all kind of things that we encountered on our way. The funny thing is that I never actually wrote these stories down, not until recently anyways. 

What do you like about writing a story?

Writing a story, to me, is like creating a “bubble of existence”. As I see it, the space around us is filled with bubbles, every bubble is a story created by someone. In every given moment we can choose to get a peek at one of them, just like watching outside the window of someone we don’t know. When I write a story, I create a new bubble, one that all kind of people that I don’t know, never met and probably will never meet, can look into and while doing so, become part of that story. In a way, all the people that read my stories carry a little bit of me within them, like I carry within me a part of all those authors I read.

Can you tell us about your book?

Ado in the Meadow is a story about a cheerful hedgehog named Poddy. Poddy finds himself, unintentionally, in the center of some unfortunate events taking place in a beautiful green meadow. He tries to transform himself, thinking that becoming someone else might solve his issues... Eventually, he finds out that being true to his nature serves him and his friends, best. It’s all about self esteem and friendship.

The book is most suitable for young children, age 3-6, and naturally for beginner readers.

What genre best fits for the book?

Children’s books.

Are you working on something new at the moment?

Yes, I have several ideas running all together. One of them involves a squirrel and a snail. I think I might pick this one for the next story, though I haven’t made up my mind yet.

Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?

You just have to look around and be attentive to nature, people, stories you hear. In everything you can find a hidden story that waits to be told. Yet, the most important thing, on my opinion, is to enjoy doing it. When you enjoy doing something, it shows on the outcome.

Where can people go to read your work?

“Ado in the meadow” is published as a kindle book on Amazon

http://bit.ly/17WafwB

Do you have anything to add?

Last, but surely not least, I would like to thank Roy Murry for this interview! I enjoyed doing it, and I hope you’ll find it interesting!

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