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Interview with Author Mary Sheriff

Updated: Aug 31, 2021

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Mary Sheriff

What was your inspiration for Boop and Eve's Road Trip

 

My grandma Hootie passed away when I was pregnant with my first child. She lived a difficult life and made some significant mistakes, but the lady I knew was this amazing, loving grandma. I couldn’t help wishing she were still around when I was sitting in a dark place, and then I thought maybe she can be there for Eve. Enter the character of Boop.

 

After having babies, I struggled with postpartum depression. Part of my healing process was writing this book and attempting to capture what it feels like to sit in a dark place and to feel like you hadn’t earned the right to sit there. I think as a society we are empathetic when depression meets grief but bewildered by depression that we can’t explain. Eve was born from my journey from depression to recovery. 

 

Like Eve and Boop in the novel, Hootie and I shared a daydream about renting an RV when I turned sixteen years old and taking a road trip together across the country. For many reasons this road trip never happened in real life—in large part because neither of us was capable of safely driving an RV across the country.  Writing Boop and Eve’s Road Trip was a way for me to imagine the road trip that never was.

 

How would you fill in this statement? If you liked _______________ , you will love Boop and Eve's Road Trip!

 

Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

 

Why is this book a great choice for book clubs? 

 

For me, an ideal book club selection stimulates meaty conversation. Boop and Eve's Road Trip inspires conversations around family, mental health, parenting, traveling, creativity, fashion, abortion, and birth defects.  Boop and Eve's Road Trip balances some of those heavy topics with an engaging writing style making it an easy read. This gives it wide appeal within a group. 

 

For book clubs that like to spice up their meetings with food and drinks, do you have any recommendations for menu ideas?

 

Oh, do I! For drinks, you could have mint juleps and iced tea (sweetened, of course).  For snacks, you could put out peanuts, corn nuts, pimento cheese on crackers, and pork rinds.  If you host an actual meal, you could serve fried chicken, watermelon, mashed potatoes, and a side salad.  Dessert could be gingerbread cookies, pralines, pecan sandies, or moon pies. I'm getting hungry just thinking about all this deliciousness. 

 

Have you been surprised by any reader's reactions to the book? (Those who have gotten a sneak peek prior to its release on October 6th!)

 

One early reviewer sent me an email asking me a slew of questions about what happens to the characters after the book. I told her that she was inspiring me to want to write a sequel, and she said, "Great, but you should write a prequel first."  This was something I hadn't even thought about, but the idea of spending time with Boop and Victoria when they were young is appealing. 

 

 

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