Early life

Robin Frazier Oliveira was born in Albany, New York

Albany, New York

Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

 in 1954, and grew up in nearby Loudonville, New York

Loudonville, New York

Loudonville is a hamlet in the town of Colonie, in Albany County, New York, United States. Loudonville was a census-designated place in the 1970, 1980, and 1990 US Census, but ceased to be in the 2000 Census.The area is not precisely defined...

, graduating Shaker High School

Shaker High School

Shaker High School is a public high school in Latham, Albany County, New York, and is part of the North Colonie Central School District. , it has an enrollment of over 2100 students. In 1985, it was recognized as an Exemplary School by the United States Department of Education, one of the first to...

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in Russian from the University of Montana in 1976, and continued her study at the Pushkin House

Pushkin House

The Pushkin House is the familiar name of the Institute of Russian Literature in St. Petersburg. It is part of a network of institutions affiliated with the Russian Academy of Sciences.- Establishment :...

 Institute of Russian Literature in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

. After finding this wasn't a viable career path, she studied nursing

Nursing

Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....

, earning a living as registered nurse

Registered nurse

A registered nurse is a nurse who has graduated from a nursing program at a university or college and has passed a national licensing exam. A registered nurse helps individuals, families, and groups to achieve health and prevent disease...

 specializing in critical care

Critical Care Medicine

Critical Care Medicine is a peer-reviewed medical journal in the field of intensive care medicine. It is the official publication of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. The editor-in-chief is Joseph E. Parrillo....

 and bone marrow transplant

Bone marrow transplant

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cell or blood, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cells, or umbilical cord blood...

, in Seattle.

Writing

Oliveira worked in nursing until the birth of her children, when she left work to stay home with them, but when her youngest son entered kindergarten

Kindergarten

A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

, she decided to try to write a book instead of returning.
She went back to school to earn a Master of Fine Arts

Master of Fine Arts

A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...

 in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts

Vermont College of Fine Arts

Vermont College of Fine Arts offers four distinct graduate programs, awarding Master of Fine Arts degrees in Visual Art, Writing, Writing for Children & Young Adults and Graphic Design. The student to faculty ratio at VCFA is 4-to-1.. The faculty and alumni of VCFA have won many literary awards,...

 in 2006. She served as assistant editor at Narrative Magazine

Narrative Magazine

Narrative Magazine was founded in 2003 by former Esquire editor Tom Jenks and author, Carol Edgarian. Narrative is a nonprofit dedicated to advancing the literary arts in the digital age. Its online library of writing by established writers, such as T. C...

, and from 2007 through 2011 as fiction editor for the annual literary magazine upstreet.

Oliveira began writing the novel that became My Name is Mary Sutter in 2002. It tells the story of an Albany midwife trying to become a surgeon

Surgeon

In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. At first, Oliveira admits, the writing wasn't very good, and her writing teacher doubted it could succeed. Rewriting took years, including traveling to Washington D.C. for extensive research at the National Archives

National Archives Building

The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, is the original headquarters of the National Archives and Records Administration...

 and the Library of Congress

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

. In 2007, while still in progress, it won the James Jones First Novel Award under the working title The Last Beautiful Day.

My Name is Mary Sutter was published in 2010 by Viking Press

Viking Press

Viking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...

 in the United States (ISBN 0670021679) and the Fig Tree imprint of Penguin Books

Penguin Books

Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in 2011 (ISBN 978-1905490684). It was widely reviewed, mostly favorably, with reviewers commenting on the detailed research and the determined heroine. It won an honorable mention for the 2010 Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction, and won the 2011 Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction

Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction

The Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction is an annual literary award awarded to the writer of a work of fiction related to the American Civil War. The award was started by Jeffrey Shaara and named for his father, the writer of historical fiction Michael Shaara.The $5000 was...

.

Personal life

Oliveira lives just outside Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

, with her husband Andrew. They have a daughter, Noelle, and a son, Miles.