Mary Collins says roaming freely as a child in Hartford and, later, along Trout Brook in West Hartford, instilled in her a “searching” habit that she taps into in her nonfiction writing. “I tend to ask questions, either about concrete things, cultural issues or of myself and then quest for answers. For a time, that was my job for the Smithsonian Magazine, to roam the museums and search for stories for their 'Object at Hand' column, which focused on things behind-the-scenes at the museums on the National Mall. I find writing nonfiction has helped me more fully understand my own humanity and keeps me curious about the world.” 

 

She adds that her years as a serious athlete, both in track and basketball, instilled in her a goal-oriented, disciplined writing process—less about keeping a journal every day and more about spotting something she wants to do and then sprinting as hard as possible to make it happen. 

 

“Rejection and failure are part of the process, not end points.”