Terence Sullivan is the author of the new novel Alice of Oz. The book began as a TikTok storytelling series. He lives in the Richmond, Virginia, area.
Q: What inspired you to write Alice of Oz?
A: Funnily enough, it was the audience. The origin of Alice came from a storytelling series where I had constructed a cinematic multiverse of Oz and started drawing connections between characters across different fantasy films.
The audience exploded, and they kept saying the same thing. This has to be a book. This needs to be a book. So I went into the very laborious process of mapping out the crossover character arcs that have now become Alice of Oz.
Q: How did you combine the various worlds of Oz, Neverland, and Wonderland in your novel?
A: In essence, Oz is all fantasy realms. What we know as Oz is the core mainland. Neverland is a more ancient part of Oz, an island that has been hidden for various reasons. And Wonderland is not actually a place at all.
Wonderland was the experience Alice had when she first went to Oz.
What came to her as a dream is really a foreshadowing, a vision of what she will live through when she returns.
Q: The author Ellen Baker called the book an “incredibly fresh and imaginative page-turner, with amazing action and magic… despicable villains, and a heroine you can’t help but cheer for.” What do you think of that description?
A: It is incredibly humbling to have Ellen say that, and I am also incredibly proud. Ellen is my editor, and so much more than an editor. She is my mentor, and she has been working with me on this story for the better part of the last five years. It really feels like an arrival to hear her say it.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: I want readers to feel like they know these beloved characters. To know them in their evolution, and to feel that they understood them. The through line of the story is that the most important relationship you have is the relationship you have with yourself.... the belief in yourself, and the power of self-truth and autonomy.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Right now I am working on marketing this book, which is no small feat, but I am enjoying it very much. The second book, Wendy of Oz, is in development. I am thrilled to be back in Oz.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Only that the book exists because readers believed in it and wanted it. That storytelling series was something I was making for an audience, and they are the reason it became a novel at all. I still hear from them, and I would not have written it without them.
Oh, and anyone who wants to find me is welcome at aliceofoz.com or follow along on TikTok @papaterence.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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