Jocelyn Cullity
Author Interview - Jocelyn Cullity
Author of The Nurse at Baker Hospital
After her father’s death, nurse Della King is on the brink of homelessness—until she lands ajob at the prestigious Baker Hospital in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. What promises safety and purpose—for both Della and the terminally ill patients who come from across the country—hides a far darker reality. When her beloved patients begin to die, Della must confront her deepest fears and navigate a web of secrets that tests her loyalty, courage, and sense of self.
Torn between survival and doing what is right, she risks everything to uncover the truth. The Nurse at Baker Hospital is a gripping tale of mystery, hidden histories, and self-discovery, exploring what it takes to find one’s place in a dangerous, unpredictable world.
Author Interview - Jocelyn Cullity
Author I draw inspiration from:
Toni Morrison / Beloved
Author Interview - Jocelyn Cullity | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
In the sun
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Pilate Dead from Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. Pilate is wise, independent, unconventional, spiritually grounded, and completely herself. She is the kind of person who would turn a broken elevator into a place of storytelling. She’d probably know songs, family histories, secrets, and truths I would not have noticed or understood without her.
Author Interview - Jocelyn Cullity | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
Walking in the rain when I was a child
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Love them all -- as long as there are beautiful words to be had!
The last book I read:
Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur -- absolutely vivid
Author Interview - Jocelyn Cullity | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
My writing process is a blend of the tactile and the technological. I often begin with pen and paper, jotting down images, questions, fragments of dialogue, or moments of discovery because handwriting allows ideas to unfold in a more intuitive way. Once I begin drafting, I move to the computer, where I can shape and reshape the material through revision. Because I write historical fiction, research is an essential part of my process—I’m constantly moving between the world of the past and the imaginative world of the novel, asking not only what happened, but what people felt, hoped for, feared, and loved. Ultimately, writing for me is a process of discovery: a conversation between research, imagination, and the characters who gradually reveal their own stories.
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
International Development Program Officer
Favorite decade in fashion history:
1920s
Place I’d most like to travel:
Mauritius -- such an interesting mix of cultures!
My signature drink:
IPA!
Favorite artist:
Faith Ringgold / I admire Faith Ringgold because she was a storyteller as much as an artist. Her work combines history, memory, and personal experience, and I love the way she shows that ordinary lives contain extraordinary stories. That’s something I try to do in my own fiction.
Number one on my bucket list:
Writing the next book.
Anything else you'd like to add:
THANK YOU!!!
Find more from the author:
jocelyncullity.com
instagram: @jcullity
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jocelyn.cullity.5/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-cullity-672445117/
About Jocelyn Cullity:
Jocelyn Cullity
Jocelyn Cullity is the Director of Creative Writing and the Stokes Center for Creative Writing at the University of South Alabama. Her first novel, Amah & the Silk-Winged Pigeons, won the 2018 Best Book Awards in Historical Fiction, and has been translated into French and Tamil. Her second novel, The Envy of Paradise, was a finalist in Multicultural Fiction for the 2020 International Book Awards. Cullity’s third historical novel, The Nurse at Baker Hospital (2026) is a mystery set in Eureka Springs, Arkansas during the Depression. Her short stories, essays, and interviews have been published in Blackbird, The Missouri Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and The Writer’s Chronicle, among others.
