Author Interviews

DOUBLE DOSE of WNDMG!!! Author Interviews with Raidah Shah Idil and Yxavel Magna Dino!

By Patchree Jones on November 12, 2025 / Author Interviews, WNDMG

WNDMG Reads

November’s typically filled with so much to do! Some households just finished celebrating Dia de Los Muertos, while others are saluting the veterans in their lives. Others are already planning Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, or any other -Givings Day dinners!

Yet those in the bookish community simply wait for all the incredible new releases that embrace the family spirit. And what better way to celebrate family this month than with a double dose of WNDMG book releases!

We recognize that publishing is an incredibly difficult pursuit and that journey can be even harder for international authors. Yet, despite all odds, I have had the pleasure of sharing the virtual stage with not one, but two amazing MG authors who both have US/CANADA releases this month!

Without further ado, I present Raidah Shah Idil and Yxavel Magna Diño! Welcome ot the Mixed Up Files – We Need Diverse MG feature!

How to Free a Jinn by Raidah Shah Idil

Raidah Shah Idil is the author of HOW TO FREE A JINN which released in the US and Canada on November 4! Here’s a summary of her Malaysian fantasy novel!

Insyirah’s calm, orderly world falls into chaos when her proud nenek (grandmother) has a bad fall, and Insyirah and her mother must move back to Malaysia to take care of her.

Her new home holds wild and dangerous mysteries, and while finding her feet, Insyirah discovers a shocking secret: the women in her family can control jinn—powerful, ancient jungle spirits—and, one day, she will inherit one of her own. What’s more, her new school is haunted by an evil spirit determined to force her out of Malaysia.

As Insyirah discovers the fascinating ways of the seen and unseen worlds, she finds danger around every corner. And when her family situation grows perilous, she must gather all her resilience to overcome unexpected obstacles and make a life-changing decision.

The Firefly Crown by Yxavel Magna Dino

Yxavel Magna Diño is the author of two amazing Filipino fantasy novels THE SERPENT RIDER (2024) and THE FIREFLY CROWN released in the states yesterday, November 11! Focusing on her sophomore novel for this interview, here’s the blurb for THE FIREFLY CROWN:

An unlucky sorcerer must learn to wield her insect magic in this charming middle grade fantasy that’s perfect for fans of Impossible Creatures and Witchlings.

In the empire, magic determines your fate. But Yumi is tired of being a failed Cricket. Their magic is lousy and boring. She dreams instead of the sparkling magic of Fireflies, whose powers rival the sun. If only she could harness her talents like other magicians . . . For now, Yumi is ignored by even the crickets who are supposed to follow her spells.

Then, Yumi gets a chance to prove herself sooner than expected when all sorcerers are summoned for the princess’s coronation. But everything falls apart when the Firefly Crown is stolen, leaving the empire defenseless against the Ghost Swarm, a horde of undead bugs. Worse, Yumi is blamed. Suddenly this lowly Cricket is the empire’s most wanted. To clear her name and protect her loved ones, Yumi must find the real thief. But can a Cricket really save the day?

Now enough with the pleasantries, let’s jump into this interview!

CHILDHOOD DREAMS

My first question for both of you: did you always want to become an author?

RAIDAH: Yes! I was always that kid who found socialization far too tricky, so I sought refuge in reading and writing books. I’ve lost track of the number of stories I’ve written, and all my unfinished manuscripts. I wrote fanfiction for years, too, which really helped me improve my writing craft.

YXAVEL: Yes! Ever since I was really young, “author” was always my answer whenever people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was the kid who would rather read books in the library at lunchtime rather than hang out with the other students (thank you to everyone who still talked to me even though I was super shy and quiet, haha!) I once told someone that if I could only publish one book, and have even just one person read and love it, I would be a very happy writer. So, I feel extremely blessed and lucky to be able to live out my dream of being a published author right now, and very grateful to all the family, friends, and industry professionals who made it possible.

So determined! This of course has me asking you to tell us a bit about your publication journey.

YXAVEL: Since fantasy novels were the books that first sparked my obsession with reading and writing, I knew I wanted to be a fantasy author first and foremost. However, when I started writing my own ideas, I struggled with discipline and sticking to a single idea. Back then it was super difficult for me to write a thousand words, let alone the tens of thousands that were needed for a full-length novel.

After high school, I decided to write a story that was truer to my identity than any of the Western fantasy-inspired novels I’d ever tried writing before: a story inspired by my Filipino heritage, its myths, and its folklore. In my first year of university, I started writing what would become my debut middle-grade fantasy novel, THE SERPENT RIDER. I finished the manuscript and started querying by the start of the following year and got an offer of representation, and my wonderful agent sold the book the year after that. After several rounds of edits, THE SERPENT RIDER released in September 2024 and my sophomore novel, THE FIREFLY CROWN, just landed this month!

RAIDAH: Buckle up, because it took YEARS! I had attended Hanna Alkaf’s author event, and her advice to me was to finish my first draft. I completed the first draft of HOW TO FREE A JINN while I was pregnant with my son. I knew I needed a solid draft before he was born, before I got swallowed up by the newborn haze all over again. My two daughters were both under 4 at the time, so while my oldest was in preschool and my middle daughter was with her grandmother, I’d go from restaurant to restaurant and write. It was such a fun process, especially because I’m a panster and had no idea where my story was going until I wrote THE END. I polished it as best I could, hired an editor to help me polish it even further, then started the arduous process of querying….two months after I gave birth to my son! I gave myself a deadline of a year – if I didn’t secure representation by then, I would shelve my book and write another. I had about 100 rejections by the time I secured a single agent offer. In October 2020, when my son was one year old, I signed with my agent, Alli Hellegers of Stimola Literary. After some edits with her, in 2021, she sent the then-YA version of my book to US editors, and we had a lot of complimentary rejections. I spent 2022 revising my book down from YA to MG. We finally landed my Australian book deal in late 2023, and then got published in Sept 2024!

I’m not worthy to be in the presence of two agented international PHENOMES! Now, do you both strictly write fantasy? Or do you dabble across genres? Is there one genre you would (probably) NEVER try?

This image is a promotional poster for the 2018 Malaysian supernatural horror film, Munafik 2

RAIDAH: Not at all! I read very widely and reflect that in my own writing practice e.g. I also write non-fiction, poems, romance, mysteries, adventures….One genre I would probably never try is straight up horror. Suspense and psychological thrillers are something I’d love to experiment with, but I’m far too squeamish for gore and horror.

Fluffy cupid

YXAVEL: I’m a fantasy writer at heart, but I love consuming media in all different genres including sci-fi, horror, psychological thrillers, and literary! I’d love to be a multi-genre author one day. Although I don’t think I could ever write a purely romance-oriented book, as that requires a skillset which I doubt I currently have (for now at least … but hey maybe one day!)

REPRESENTATION GOALS

As a Thai-American MG author, I personally love discovering the commonalities between different Southeast Asian cultures. What are some key cultural elements or traditions from Malaysia and the Philippines you knew you had to include in your stories?

RAIDAH: I wanted to include tasty Malaysian food and our obsession with jinn stories. I also wanted to include spiritual practices like reading Ayatul Kursi for protection. My intention was to always weave these seamlessly into my narrative, as a way to invite the reader into Insyirah’s lived experience.

YXAVEL: It’s super fascinating how Southeast Asia is so diverse yet there are so many values our cultures share! THE SERPENT RIDER features several mythical creatures from Filipino folklore, while THE FIREFLY CROWN’s magic system is inspired by the mambabarang, or traditional Filipino insect magicians. Aside from these aspects, one element of Philippine culture I knew I had to include in my stories is the concept of bayanihan: the deep bonds of family, friends, community, and the sense of “we’re all in this together” that permeates Filipino society even today. The importance of community and connection across Southeast Asian cultures is something you also explore very well in your own books, Patchree!

Thanks for kind words, Yxavel! Borrowing the sentiment from our colleague, Annie McCann, do you feel like a trailblazer for your culture when it comes to representation?

Southeast Asian MG Cover Banner

YXAVEL: In writing my novels, my goal was to spread the word about Filipino myths and hopefully encourage young readers to want to learn more about them! I’m so glad to be a fellow author alongside Annie, whose book MY HARIMAU KING does this with Indonesian legends; with Raidah Shah Idil whose novel HOW TO FREE A JINN explores Malaysian culture; and with you, who absolutely blew me away with your Thai-inspired SKYLIGHT! Since there’s an underrepresentation of Filipino-inspired books in the kidlit space, writing about our culture does make me feel like a trailblazer in that sense—although I’m definitely not the first person to do it!

An amazing writer-sister of mine, Caris Avendaño Cruz, wrote MARIKIT AND THE OCEAN OF STARS, as well as her second novel released earlier this year, THE BOY, THE MOUNTAIN, AND THE SERPENT WHO ATE THE MOON (which features the Filipino moon-eating sea serpent that also appears in my book THE SERPENT RIDER). Caris is a brilliant author who writes our myths with a poetry and charm I can only dream of. I’ll always recommend those books!

RAIDAH: I think so. I’d like to think that I’m building on the foundation set by Southeast Asian authors who have been published before me, like Hanna Alkaf and Jesse Sutanto. I admire Hanna Alkaf’s books, which reflect a deep love for Malaysian families, food and culture. My experience is different because of my returnee diaspora experience. I’m Malay, but not Malaysian. I’m Australian, but I’m definitely not white. I still occupy this liminal space of being between worlds. I wanted to emphasize the healing power of coming back to my ancestral home after struggling with a lot of anti-Islam, anti-Asian sentiment growing up as a minority in the West.

Representation matters so much and ALL children need to see themselves in the stories they read. We’ve still got a long way toward balancing our libraries, but at least we’re taking up the challenge to make our cultures present and accounted for!

Now, I’ve got a question just for Raidah! While most writers feel like we can revise forever (some begrudgingly!), what did the revision process look like for you between the original version of HOW TO FREE A JINN and the upcoming US/Canadian release?

RAIDAH: Where do I even start? The original version of HOW TO FREE A JINN was actually a YA novel! Insyirah started off as being 16. One of my American beta readers said that she sounded closer to 12, and that was the winning tweak that I suggested to my agent, who enthusiastically agreed. I had to brutally cut out many subplots and characters (including Insyirah’s dad, stepmother and stepsister haha) to get to the heart of my story. That was the version that landed my first book deal with Allen and Unwin.

Once my book got acquired by my Australian publisher, I had a little bit more polishing to do with my Australian editor, Kate Whitcher. Once I got my American book deal with Salaam Reads (an imprint of Simon & Schuster), I fleshed out my story even more with my American editor, Deeba Zargapur. I hope to get a UK book deal too, and I’m looking forward to strengthening my book with my UK editor.

Who knew the process was so complicated! Now, Yxavel, here’s a question just for you! Since all writers dream of getting every story published, how did the publishing journey of THE FIREFLY CROWN differ from THE SERPENT RIDER? Did you experience any sophomore release nerves?

Mambabarang

YXAVEL: With THE SERPENT RIDER, I had all the time in the world to come up with the initial draft, but THE FIREFLY CROWN was the first book I’ve ever had to write on deadline and I really felt the challenge! It helped that I decided to write a main character who shares a lot of traits with me—Yumi is a quiet Cricket magician who comes from humble beginnings, but is forced to prove her innocence when the empire’s most treasured possession, the magical Firefly Crown, goes missing and the blame lands on her. My initial attempt at a manuscript was pretty messy, so I’m thankful to my editor for being very forgiving with the first draft, and for writing a brilliant edit letter that helped me improve the story so much!

A lot of people who enjoyed THE SERPENT RIDER are Filipino readers who know our myths exceptionally well, so I’m a little (read: EXTREMELY) nervous about what they will think of THE FIREFLY CROWN. Here’s hoping you all will enjoy it too!

My goodness! I am blown away but both of your journeys! Last question, what’s one key takeaway you want readers to take away from your work?

RAIDAH: I hope that Insyirah’s story, and all of my future stories, will show the complexity and humanity of Muslim families, and how we deserve to go on fun adventures too. The dehumanization and demonisation of Muslims in mainstream media has real-life harmful and often fatal consequences. Writing joyful Muslim stories is my resistance.

YXAVEL: A recurrent theme across both my novels is having the courage to forge your own path, no matter who or what may stand in your way. I sincerely hope that anyone who reads my work will feel inspired to do just that.

Here, here! I love these messages and agree with both of you wholeheartedly. Publishing takes courage and joy is resistance! Thank you both so much for sharing with us today! Be sure to support these amazing authors and grab their books today! Check out their socials and book links below!

Raidah Shah Idil

Author Bio:Raidah Shah Idil was born in Singapore; grew up in Sydney, Australia; worked in Amman, Jordan; and now lives in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, with her husband, three children, and mother-in-law. Raidah earned her BA in English and BSc in Psychology from the University of New South Wales and her Diploma of Counselling from the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. Raidah loves ginger tea and noodle soup and dreams of uninterrupted sleep. HOW TO FREE A JINN is her first book.

Yxavel Magna Dino

Author Bio: Yxavel Magno Diño is the author of The Serpent Rider and The Firefly Crown. She was born in the Philippines before moving to Australia at a young age, where she soon discovered that almost nobody there knew how to say her name. To make up for it, she spent her time daydreaming about fantasy worlds filled with characters who had more unusual names than she did. Now, she writes stories about her Filipino heritage and its fantastical folklore. When she’s not writing, you can find her drinking copious amounts of black tea or getting lost in the pages of a book.

Interview with Graphic Novelist Liza N. Cooper

By Lisa Schmid on November 6, 2025 / Author Interviews, kidlit

I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Liza Cooper, author of Meems and Feefs, to the blog today! I can’t wait to hear how these adorable characters came to life. As someone who once had a ferret named Fern, I’m especially excited to learn what sparked the idea for this charming story.

Lisa: Tell us about MEEMS & FEEFS.

Liza: Meems and Feefs are two ferret brothers from a planet called Ferretonia, more specifically , from Dook Dook Island. They’re mischievous, adventurous, and always getting into trouble –but their friendship is at the heart of everything they do.

Feefs, the darker ferret, is calm and loyal. He’s great at navigation, can sniff out anything, and always follows Meems into adventure, usually without thinking twice. Book cover of Meems & Feefs

Meems, the lighter one, is a curious inventor. He’s always tinkering with tools and experiments – usually things he probably shouldn’t be touching. He wears a little tool belt, carries his red screwdriver everywhere, and keeps goggles on hand for when things inevitably blow up.

Lisa: What sparked the creation of these lovable characters?

Liza: That’s a great question! I actually had two ferrets, Meemoo and Feefoo, nicknamed Meems and Feefs, and they were the direct inspiration for the series. When we first got them, my husband and I each got to name one. I chose the lighter one and called him Meemoo. My husband, being the copycat he is, named his Feefoo. And that’s how the names of the two ferret brothers were born. They even shared the same colours and personalities as the characters in the books.

Feefoo was the laid-back one, but incredibly skilled at finding hidden stashes and snacks—so his navigation talents made their way into the stories. He was very loyal and sweet, always following me from room to room. Meemoo, on the other hand, was more independent and mischievous. He loved stashing things and getting into trouble. He was also half-Angora, so he had longer fur with little tufts around his face, which you can see in his character design.

I started drawing ferret comics because, when I first got them, I realised there were loads of cat and dog comics – but almost nothing about ferrets. As an artist, I thought, “Why not make my own?” My first comic, Ferret Anatomy, went viral right away, and I think it proved my theory that ferrets were seriously underrepresented online. It’s been amazing seeing how much more love ferrets get now. Honestly, I like to think of it as a bit of ferret propaganda.

Lisa: Do you start with words, images or a mix of both?

Liza: I always start with words. That’s how I’ve written all my comics, even the short ones on Instagram. More specifically, I usually begin with the punchline or the ending. It’s much easier to build a story when I know where it’s going. I like to think of it like planning a trip – once you’ve booked the destination, you can handle any detours along the way, but you still always know where you’re headed.

So once I have my ending, I work backwards: where does it start, how do we get there, and what happens in between? For Instagram comics, I keep it casual, but for the books, I write full scripts, almost like movie scripts, so I can visualise the pacing, the setting, and how the characters interact.

I also break the story down by pages so I know how much text and action fits on each one. I try to make every page end on a small “cliffhanger” or a moment that makes you want to keep reading. After that, I move on to sketching, layouts, and panels – but it all starts with words first.

Lisa: How do you balance the storytelling between text and art?

Liza: My goal is always to show, not tell – but I’m quite a chatty person, so naturally, my characters end up being quite chatty too. I always try to balance that by showing as much as I can through expressions, little visual easter eggs, props, and the environment. Anything that CAN
be conveyed visually, I prefer to draw rather than explain. Illustration of Meems & Feefs embracing

That said, because Meems and Feefs is a middle-grade graphic novel, I can’t make everything too subtle or rely entirely on visual cues – kids still need the story to be clear. So the challenge for me is making sure the dialogue feels natural and fun, but trimming it down enough that the visuals still carry the story. Honestly, it’s the same struggle I have in life – trying to talk less and be more concise, haha!

Lisa: Were there any graphic novels or comics that made you want to create your own?

Liza: When I was growing up, there weren’t many graphic novels around, but I was always drawn to books with pictures. I’m a very visual person, so even a few illustrated pages helped me connect with the story more deeply. Graphic novels just felt like a natural fit for me. What really pushed me to create my own, though, were webcomics. I loved their accessibility and creativity – people just putting their stories out there. And beyond that, I was heavily influenced by the cartoons I grew up with. To name a few, and to give away my age a little – Courage the Cowardly Dog, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Rugrats, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Sonic the Hedgehog was my absolute favourite, and you can probably see some of that energy in Meems and Feefs.

I’ve always been drawn to small, scrappy characters thrown into big adventures. I love that sense of scale, tiny heroes facing enormous odds, and I think that’s something I’ve carried into my own work. The anthropomorphic side came naturally; animal characters are expressive, fun, and full of fluff.

I was also deeply inspired by Simon’s Cat, where I worked as an Art Director for several years. Simon Tofield, who created it, really shaped how I approach storytelling through observational humour and grounded character moments – and he even kindly provided a quote for my first book!

Lisa: Is there something you wish more people understood about making graphic novels?

Liza: I think a lot of people don’t realise that most graphic novels are made by just one person. You’re writing, sketching, inking, colouring, editing, basically doing the work of an entire studio on your own. It’s a huge process that takes a lot of time, patience, and organisation. On top of that, many creators, myself in luded, also handle their own marketing – creating previews, social posts, and reaching out to readers so the book actually gets seen. So you’re not just the artist; you’re the writer, project manager, and marketing team all in one. People are usually very supportive, which means a lot, but it does make it hard to reply to everyone or take on every collaboration. I always try my best, though, it just takes time when you’re a one-person studio.

Lisa: Is there a panel or page in the book that was especially fun or challenging to draw?

Liza: There are several pages like that, but one that stands out is when Liza arrives at Ferryway Hall for the trial, and all of the ferrets from the Dook Dook Island are there. I included some of my patrons’ ferrets as background characters, which was really fun to draw. It was tricky to give each little ferret a hint of personality without pulling focus from the main story, while also making the hall feel grand and slightly intimidating to Liza. Getting that sense of scale, architecture and atmosphere right was challenging – but really rewarding once it all came together.

Another scene I loved working on was the chase sequence. You’ll see it in the book: Liza, Meems, Feefs, and Leeloo are sprinting through the halls of the Citadel of Ferrets. I wanted it to feel fast-paced and energetic, so I angled the panels diagonally and varied the environments to make their escape feel alive.

Throughout the book, I’ve really focused on keeping each page visually exciting. One thing I’ve enjoyed most is experimenting with perspective, moving the “camera,” changing angles, and showing the characters from new viewpoints. It helps with the mood and storytelling flow, but
it also makes the artwork feel more dynamic. Of course, that means a lot of perspective lines in my sketches, but it’s worth it when it all comes together.

Lisa: How long does it take to complete a graphic novel from start to finish?

Liza: It definitely takes a long time. My first book took about a year to complete, and the second one took closer to two, partly because I had a baby in the middle of it. Adjusting to life with a newborn, then a toddler, meant I had to pace myself and take a bit of a maternity break. Even with some help on the colouring, creating nearly 200 pages – writing, illustrating, and designing the world – was a huge task. Thankfully, my publisher was really understanding, and my editor, Erinn Pascal, has been just incredible. She’s helped me grow so much as a writer and has been supportive every step of the way.

The next book is already in progress, and I’m hoping to have it out within a year, so hopefully readers won’t have to wait too long this time!

Lisa: Do you have any upcoming projects you’re excited about?

Liza: Right now, I’m working on Book 3 of the Meems and Feefs series. I’m actually sketching potential cover designs as we speak! This book will wrap up the trilogy, explore more of Ferretonia’s lore, and reveal a few surprises I’m really excited about. It’s a huge project, so I’m trying to stay focused and not overload myself with too many side ideas – though I do have a Quest Based pet board game concept waiting in the wings for after it’s done.

I’m also planning to pitch a few new book ideas soon, with the help of my amazing agent, Kathleen Ortiz of KOMedia Management. She has a real gift for shaping stories and making them stronger. Meems and Feefs actually became a trilogy because of her, she saw the potential for a bigger adventure when it was originally just one ferret story. Liza Cooper

Lisa: What advice would you give 12-year-old Liza?

Liza: I’d tell 12-year-old Liza to stop worrying so much about the future and just enjoy where she is. You don’t need to have everything figured out yet – things fall into place when you trust yourself and keep going. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, take chances, and most importantly, keep drawing and imagining stories. And I promise, you DO get to own a ferret one day. Actually… more than just one!

Lisa: Thank you so much for visiting the blog and for taking the time to share with us! It was a real treat to learn more about your writing journey and the inspiration behind your work. Your insights were both encouraging and inspiring, and I know our readers truly enjoyed hearing from you. We’re grateful you stopped by.

About:

Liza N. Cooper is an artist and digital content creator who goes by the pen name Siberian Lizard online. Originally born in the wild and frosty Siberia, she has since settled down in a much warmer (and wetter) London, where she lives with her two naughty ferrets and a Pomeranian puppy.

For more information, please visit her website.

INTERVIEW with CAROLINE CARLSON, author of THE TINKERERS (Giveaway too!)

By Jen Kraar on October 30, 2025 / Author Interviews

I am thrilled to welcome Caroline Carlson to the Mixed Up Files blog. We met years ago when she mentored a group of writers in a Story Guild meeting. I was immediately struck with her generous nature and ability to create plots arcs and shape distinct characters. It is no surprise that this middle grade author crafted a brilliant new novel which is both heartfelt and thrilling.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Caroline Carlson is the author of funny and fantastical books for young readers, including The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates trilogy, The World’s Greatest Detective, The Door at the End of the World, and Wicked Marigold. Her novels have won accolades from the New York Times, the American Booksellers Association, Bank Street College of Education, the American Library Association, and Junior Library Guild, among others. She is the children’s book columnist for the website Literary Hub.

Caroline holds a BA from Swarthmore College and an MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She grew up in Massachusetts and now lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her family.

THE TINKERERS

SUMMARY OF THE TINKERERS

When Peter leads two Tinkerers to his family’s inn in Stargazers Valley, he imagines they’re like other astromancers, researchers from the Imperial College who study starstuff. The valley is a special place, where the magical aurora called the Skeins appear in the sky and starstuff falls in their wake, as thin and wispy as fluff from a seed pod. But starstuff is powerful, and astromancers are the only people allowed to handle it—a law enforced by the strict and stealthy Outbounder Task Force. When Peter discovers the Tinkerers have used starstuff to invent an incredible not-a-clock that can turn back time for a few minutes, he realizes it’s his
chance to undo his mistakes: if he can go back and put away his new boots, he doesn’t need to add their destruction by falcons to his list of ten worst mistakes (#7: stepping on a star-eating newt). But while using the not-a-clock is easy, stopping using it is hard. And maybe not everything that feels like a mistake at the time actually is.
In a starred review, The Horn Book describes The Tinkerers as “a brilliant synthesis of plot,
theme, and good-natured chaos.”

INSPIRATION

Jen Kraar: Tell me about the seed that sparked The Tinkerers. Was it character, plot or setting?

Caroline Carlson: The Tinkerers was the first story I’ve ever written, published or unpublished, that didn’t start with a seed of character, plot, or setting. The seed of this story was actually theme—an element
that usually comes much later in the writing process for me. I had been thinking about my own
perfectionistic tendencies and my own almost magical belief that if I could somehow get
through life without making any mistakes, nothing bad would happen to me or the people I
loved. I recognized, of course, that that was a ridiculous thing to believe. “Even if you never
made any mistakes,” I told myself, “terrible things could still happen.” And then I ran to my
desk and wrote that sentence down, because I could tell there was a good story hiding inside it.

Jen: Did you draw on your own life to tell this story?

Caroline: Since The Tinkerers is a fantasy novel set in a world apart from our own, its plot doesn’t borrow
many elements from my actual life. I’ve never found a magical device that could turn back time,
uncovered a spy network, or tried to pull the aurora down from the sky (although, like Peter,
my protagonist, I am pretty bad at hiking). But all of the emotions on the page are
real—particularly Peter’s anxiety and his struggle to figure out the “right” way to act in a world
that’s more complex and messy than he’d previously realized.

WRITING PROCESS

Jen: How did your story change as you revised it? What was something that surprised you as you wrote this story?

Caroline: I’m usually a writer who focuses on plot and worldbuilding before character, so when I finished
the first draft of The Tinkerers, I was surprised to realize that my characters and their emotions
were already working in the way I’d hoped they would. It often takes me several drafts to get
my characters to feel things, so this writing experience was a happy anomaly! The tradeoff, of
course, was that while my characters’ emotional arcs were strong, my worldbuilding needed
some help. When I revised my first draft with my editor, I added almost 20,000 words of
material to give readers more context and explanation for the events of the story.

STARGAZING

STARGAZERS MAP

Peter lives in a country governed by an authoritarian empress, and a group of lawbreaking“outbounders” has been challenging the empress’s control over both the land and the magical
starstuff that falls from the sky. The broad outlines of this conflict are crucial to the events of the story, but since twelve-year-old Peter isn’t directly involved in the conflict, it mostly
happens off the page while readers are experiencing Peter’s daily life at home, at school, and in his community. My first draft focused on the story events that happen directly to Peter, while
my major revisions focused more on explaining and clarifying the events in Peter’s larger world. I hope that the final version of The Tinkerers feels like a fully formed world that you might really be able to visit—at least in your imagination.

CRAFTING

Jen: You tell your story in a unique way. How did the structure of your story come about? Were you inspired by any other multi-modal books?

Caroline: I love writing stories told in collections of documents, and this isn’t the first time I’ve done it.
My entire Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates trilogy is also written partly in letters,
newspaper clippings, and a mishmash of other formats. One reason why I decided to return to
this form in The Tinkerers was that it’s a lot of fun. My brain really thrives on a good structural
writing challenge. (In college, I wrote a lot of formal poetry—things like sestinas and
triolets—and I loved trying to make my words follow the rules of each form.) Figuring out which
parts of a novel can be told in different media and how all those pieces might fit together into
an understandable narrative is a tricky puzzle, but it’s also immensely satisfying. And I don’t
want to write a book that bores me! I’d never get through the first draft!

League of Pirates

The other reason why I like writing multi-modal books is that it allows me to share multiple
perspectives with readers. I’m not entirely limited by my protagonist’s viewpoint; I’m able to
give readers crucial pieces of information that my protagonist will never have. In a book like The
Tinkerers that contains a few different mysteries to solve, those crucial pieces of information let
readers start to see how the mysteries are unfolding a little bit before Peter does.
As for other multi-modal books, my all-time favorites are by Australian novelist Jaclyn Moriarty.
Her books are much more ambitious in form than mine, and I’m completely in awe of her
talent.

Jen: How was this novel different than your other novels?

Caroline: The Tinkerers is stylistically pretty different from my previous books. It’s still a fantasy novel,
but its setting has a contemporary feel, while my other work has more of an old-fashioned or“storybook” vibe. The other stylistic difference is that when I wrote The Tinkerers, I wasn’t consciously trying to be funny (although early reviewers have mentioned the book’s humor, so some of that must have seeped through the cracks!). There’s still magic in this book, as there is in most of my other novels, but the magic here is a little more subtle, and in many ways the fantastic elements of the book take a backseat to the friendships and relationships that are at the heart of the story.

Jen: Which scene was your favorite to write? Hardest to write?

Caroline: Toward the end of the book, there’s a climactic scene in the school gym that I’d been picturing
in my head for years before I got to write it, so I was really satisfied when I reached that point
of the story and it actually worked out the way I’d hoped. That doesn’t always happen with
scenes you’ve been imagining for years! I also loved writing the star tales, which are folktales or
myths that I created for the world of the story. I’d been listening to a lot of real folktales on
public radio’s Circle Round podcast with my kids, and the rhythms of those old stories had
worked their way into my head, so I found it really satisfying to create my own tapestry of
mythic figures and pseudo-ancient legends.

The hardest scenes to write were actually ones that I ended up cutting from the book entirely.
Over the years, I’ve learned that when a scene is very difficult for me to write, that’s a red flag
that the scene is not working properly and needs to be re-evaluated, re-imagined, or set aside
for good. It can be tough to remove a scene you’ve spent so much time working on, but now
that the book is finished, I’m so relieved those scenes are gone!

AUTHOR LIFE

Jen: Have you always been a writer?

Caroline: I’ve always been a reader, but it took me many years of wanting to be a writer before I had
enough bravery and discipline to sit down and write a story from beginning to end. Even now,
with seven published novels behind me, I think writing is often ridiculously hard work. But all of
the imagining and plotting and world-dreaming that goes into the creation of a new story? All
of the joke-crafting and word-fussing and structure-building, all of the fiddling with every single
syllable on every single page until it sounds just so? I really do love that, and I think I always
will.

Jen: What keeps you writing?

Caroline: Hearing from readers whose lives have been touched by my work is the most tremendous
motivation to keep telling stories. I hope I’m able to continue writing for as long as I have
something I want to say to the world, and for as long as I want to laugh.

Jen: What draws you to writing fantasy?

Caroline: I think I’m supposed to say something about how the fantastic uses metaphor to illuminate the
challenges of our own world, and I know that’s true—but honestly, I just like having the chance
to escape into another world for a while. And if readers want to come along, too, I’m glad for
them to join me!

Thank you for joining us here at the Mixed up Files blog to share the story behind the story of The Tinkerers. I also found the craft details you included in your newsletter, The Scuttlebutt, to be intriguing and helpful for my own writing.

If you are a writer, I encourage you to subscribe:
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Connect with Caroline Carlson

Website: https://carolinecarlsonbooks.com/

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GIVEAWAY

For a chance to win a copy of THE TINKERERS, signed by the author, leave a comment on this interview post. Giveaway ends November 6, 2025, MIDNIGHT EST. U.S. only, please.