Novel idea for this
first-time author

By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer

Sunshine O’Donnell knew what she wanted to do with her life at age 5: become a mom and a writer.
After realizing her calling, the kindergartner wrote a book and proudly presented it to her adoring fans — her family.
"I said, ‘See, I’m a published author now,’" said O’Donnell, now 36.
The passion for writing led the Bensalem native to become a journalist for the Northeast Times (she wrote under her maiden name, Werbock) from 1994 to 1999. She also blossomed into an award-winning poet and essayist and founded The Coffeehouse Project, an educational writing, arts and science program for underprivileged children in Philadelphia and surrounding areas.
Despite all of her previous success, O’Donnell’s two biggest dreams remained unfulfilled until late last year.
First came motherhood: She gave birth to a baby boy named Kieran, now almost 7 months, in November.
Now O’Donnell’s gearing up for another special delivery — the release of her debut novel, Open Me, on June 22. The book, published by MacAdam Cage, will appear in Barnes & Noble stores under the "Discover Great New Writers" section in July and August.
"This is a very lucky year," said O’Donnell, who lives in Mount Airy with Kieran and husband Casey. "I wanted to be an author and a mom and both happened in the same year."
The novel, which takes place in Philadelphia and the suburbs, begins with the main character, Mem, realizing her calling at around the same tender age O’Donnell was when she discovered hers.
Mem’s prospects, however, are more sinister. Born into a secret society of professional wailers, Mem’s job is to sob at the funerals of complete strangers in exchange for a handsome fee.
But the dark, delicately beautiful Mem finds producing tears to be anything but natural. So her exotic and alluring mother, who is famous for easily turning on the waterworks, uses psychological abuse to "train" Mem at her job. If Mem can’t learn to lament and support her family, her mother will abandon her. Mem goes on to become the greatest wailer in the history of the profession, but at a cost.
O’Donnell got the unique idea for the novel after reading Crying: A Natural and Cultural History of Tears, by Tom Lutz. Fascinated by the kind of training someone needed for such a profession, O’Donnell set to work using imagination and true accounts from some of the underserved youth she teaches.
For the record, wailing in the United States ceased long ago, but it supposedly still survives today in some areas of Europe and Asia.
Open Me didn’t take long to write, possibly because O’Donnell didn’t confine herself to working solely in seclusion at a computer.
"I’d write pieces and stick them in a scrapbook. I have pads and pens all over the house, in my car," she said.
The query letter to spark interest in her manuscript was a different story. "It took me longer to write the query letter than the book," O’Donnell said.
But she eventually intrigued her top agent, Marianne Merola, of Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents Inc., who supported her project and helped O’Donnell navigate through the inner workings of the industry. Open Me endured a dozen rewrites before O’Donnell closed the book on it.
"The book it originally was is very different from what it is now," she said.
O’Donnell, an Arcadia University graduate, drew upon her journalism and research skills to meet editing deadlines and craft fake historical documents, news articles and letters for the story.
And while many of the characters and their experiences are pure fabrication, bits of O’Donnell emerge in the tale.
"There are parts of me crystallized at certain ages," O’Donnell said.
Also, the character of Mem’s eccentric aunt, Raziel, is a combination of O’Donnell’s grandmother and two Holocaust survivors that she knew.
American readers aren’t the only ones who can explore the world of wailing in Open Me — the book also is being translated into Dutch, a hasty happening for a new author. O’Donnell’s agent is shopping the book in other European nations, like Italy and Germany.
"The Dutch book industry is very open," O’Donnell explained of Holland’s interest in her novel. "That’s a dream to have your work translated."
Her contract includes another book, which she already has begun planning. All Flesh is Sunlight follows an alien who has to write a report on Earth. A third book, The Geographic Tongue, will explore themes of learning disabilities and communication.
O’Donnell’s hopes for Open Me are pure of heart. She knows she won’t get wealthy off the sales, but she also hopes that readers get motivationally rich off her writing.
"I hope that it does well," she said. "I hope that it serves as a tool of inspiration for a young person who has dreams of being a published author." ••
For more information, visit www.sunshineodonnell.com
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com

Meet the author at B&N

Sunshine O’Donnell will appear at the Barnes & Noble store at 1805 Walnut St. on Monday at 7:30 p.m., and at the store at 835 Old York Road in Jenkintown on June 28 at 7 p.m. ••