Author Interviews

Author Spotlight: Sydney Dunlap

By on February 14, 2025   /   Author Interviews  

Today, I’m thrilled to shine the Author Spotlight on children’s author and fellow MUF member Sydney Dunlap! Sydney’s latest MG novel, Racing the Clouds, praised by Kirkus as a “hopeful, heartfelt story of resilience… handled with a gentle touch,” is out February 18 from Jolly Fish Press.

Interview with Sydney 

Melissa: Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Sydney! It’s always a pleasure to shine the Author Spotlight on a fellow MUF member, especially a new(ish) one.

Sydney: Thank you so much, Melissa! I’m very excited to be a part of MUF.

Melissa: Racing the Clouds, comes out in just FIVE days (!). What’s going through your mind right now? (I can only guess. 🙂)

Sydney: Honestly, that after working on this book for such a long time, it’s hard to believe it’s about to be out in the world. And I’m looking forward to my launch events. I’m very lucky to get to have an in-conversation event with Lynne Kelly (one of my blurbists) at a great independent bookstore called Buy the Book near my home in Texas, as well as one with Kate Albus (another of my blurbists) at the wonderful Scrawl Books in northern Virginia, close to where I lived for many years. I love going to my friends’ book launches as well as having my own. Gathering with friends and family to celebrate is so much fun!

About the Book

Melissa: Can you tell readers a bit about the novel? Also, what was the inspiration behind it?

Sydney: Racing the Clouds is the story of a 13-year-old girl named Sage who has a big secret involving her mom’s whereabouts. The story begins after she hears from her grandparents—her mom’s parents, who she’s never met—for the first time in her life. They invite her to visit, and she wants to fix what’s gone wrong in her family, so she flies to Ohio by herself as soon as school gets out for the summer. She feels an almost immediate connection with her grandfather, but her grandmother is so strict and formal that it doesn’t seem they’ll ever see eye-to-eye. Sage learns that family relationships—and people—can be much more complex than they appear on the surface. She also begins to understand more about the power of forgiveness and how to find her way forward during a difficult time.

As for the inspiration, I like writing about topics that are very real and part of a lot of people’s lives but aren’t always discussed that much, like drug addiction, which is a component of the story. I also thought it would be interesting to explore what might happen when a person hears from relatives they’ve never met and never heard anything good about, and to find out their perspective.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Melissa: Sage, the protagonist, is hiding more than she’s telling—especially when it comes to her mom. (I’ll avoid spoilers, so I won’t say more.) What was it like to get into the head of such a guarded character? Carrying a secret is such a heavy burden to bear.

Sydney: I used to be involved in theater when I was growing up, and I think that acting gave me a chance to feel like I really was the character. When I write, I have that same kind of experience, so I only revealed what it felt like Sage would be okay revealing at different points along the story. It was a huge relief when Sage could finally tell her friend Marla the whole story. I felt a burden off my chest, the same as Sage did, after writing the scene where she reveals what really happened.

Exploring Real-Life Issues

Melissa: Your previous novel, It Happened on Saturday, is also a contemporary novel that deals with real-life issues, namely human trafficking. What compels you to write about difficult issues for young readers? I know this is something you’re passionate about.

Sydney: As a child, I loved to read books about real things that could happen to kids in real life, and I especially enjoyed books written by Katherine Paterson and Judy Blume, because they wrote so honestly about all kinds of difficult topics. My experiences volunteering with child trafficking survivors and my realization that I couldn’t find any middle grade books with that subject matter – even though kids ages 11-14 are an especially vulnerable group — led me to write It Happened on Saturday. As for Racing the Clouds, I feel that there is room for more books for young readers dealing with addiction in the family, as it is a huge part of life for many children.

It’s a Dog’s Life

Melissa: Another passion of yours is animals, which is evident in your sympathetic portrayal of Nicky, a stray dog Sage rescues while visiting her estranged grandparents in Ohio. Can you tell us more about Sage’s bond with Nicky, and how it helps Sage to connect with her prickly grandmother?

Sydney: The Philadelphia apartment where Sage and her family lived until their recent move didn’t allow dogs, so Sage has never had a pet. When she meets Nicky, she is drawn to him because he seems so lost and like he could really use a friend. Sage is utterly flabbergasted to discover that her strict, formal grandmother has a soft spot for dogs. Taking care of Nicky together gives them a common purpose and something they can be in complete agreement about. Dogs bring such positive energy wherever they go, and I’ve seen people in my own extended family who disagree on pretty much everything else find common ground in their love for dogs.

Drummer Girl

Melissa: Like her dad, a once-almost-famous musician, Sage is a talented drummer. Is this a common interest, or did you have to do extensive research on how to play the drums?

Sydney: My son used to play the drums when he was in elementary and middle school, and I got to sit in on lots of drum lessons and of course see many concerts. We still have his old drum set in our house and my husband likes to play around on it, so drums are pretty familiar to me.

Path to Publication

Melissa: Switching gears, can you tell MUF readers about your path to publication? I know you were an elementary school teacher for many years. What led you to writing for kids?

Sydney: I’ve always loved books and writing, and ever since elementary school, I’ve had the idea that one day I wanted to be an author. I took creative writing classes in high school and college, then became a member and also a conference organizer for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, where I studied the craft and business aspects of writing for a long time. I drafted some manuscripts and sent them out here and there, but it wasn’t until I had the idea for It Happened on Saturday that I got really serious about pursuing traditional publication. Once I started working on that manuscript, I began writing almost every day and eventually signed with my agent, Ann Rose.

Writing Is Rewriting

Melissa: As a follow-up, your debut MG novel, Jeremy Norbeck: Animal Whiz Kid, came out in 2014. What have you learned about the publishing industry—and about writing—since then?

Sydney: I wrote that story while I was an elementary school teacher, and I used to read it out loud to my students while I was working on it. I wanted to use it right away in my classroom because it fit right in with our unit on animal adaptations, so I published it through CreateSpace (now Kindle Direct Publishing) to have it available immediately. I had already learned a lot about the publishing industry through my experiences with SCBWI, but I learned much more once I signed with my agent and then got a publishing contract for It Happened on Saturday.

My biggest takeaway is that writing is really rewriting over and over, and that you are almost never done, because there will always be something to edit or improve, up until your last look before a book goes to the printer. You work as hard as you can (with help from your critique group if that’s part of your process) to have a story be its very best before your agent sees it, and then you do the same thing with their assistance until it goes to your editor, and then you do the same thing with their expertise and guidance. And when you compare what you started with to the finished product, you realize how amazing it is that the spark of an idea could turn into a finished story, and that you are incredibly lucky to have had so many wonderful helpers along the way.

Confessions of a Pantser

Melissa: While we’re on the subject of writing, what does your writing routine look like? Also, are you a plotter or a pantser?

Sydney: My writing routine varies a lot, depending on what else I have going on. I’ve been traveling quite a bit lately, and I’m trying to learn to work while on the go, such as editing a manuscript while on a flight. At home, I sandwich writing in between my other responsibilities, my part-time work tutoring students, and my activities, and I find I’m always better able to write if I get some exercise first, usually walking my dog, going running, or doing yoga. I am a pantser through and through; I have to start writing a story to figure out who my characters are, what they want, and what obstacles will be in their way.

Sydney’s Writing Advice

Melissa: What advice would you give to fledgling MG authors?

Sydney: I’d say to read a lot of books in your chosen genre and try to think of them as texts showing examples of different ways to start/end a story, describe settings, keep up your pacing between action and dialogue, reveal character, etc. And I’d highly recommend joining a critique group. Writing friends are the BEST. You can provide each other an amazing listening ear, as well as sharing and getting helpful feedback on your work. And you all speak the same language. Non-writer friends might have no idea what you mean when you talk about queries or MG, YA, plotting vs. pantsing, etc.

Melissa: What are you working on now, Sydney? Can you give Mixed-Up Files readers a sneak peek?

Sydney: I’ve been working on a story told from two points of view that involves themes of freedom and standing up for yourself, both within one’s own family and within society.

Lightning Round!

Melissa: No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so…

Preferred writing snack? Granola bar

Coffee or tea? Tea

Superpower? Flying. I would LOVE to fly, not just to get places quickly, which would be amazing, but also for the experience of soaring through the air with the birds.

Favorite travel destination? Anywhere with a beautiful mountain view

If you were stranded on a desert island with only three things, what would they be? I’m not sure about the rules, but if allowed, I’d bring my dog, my cat, and a horse from the stable where I ride! Exploring a desert island on horseback with my furry pals running along beside me could be kind of fun! 😊

Melissa: Many thanks for joining us today, Sydney, and congratulations on the forthcoming publication of Racing the Clouds. It’s an engaging and heartfelt book, and I’m sure MUF readers will agree!

Sydney: Thank you again for your kind words and thoughtful questions, Melissa! I’m very grateful for the opportunity to share this behind-the-scenes look at Sage’s story with the MUF audience!

Bio

Sydney Dunlap is an award-winning author and former elementary school teacher. She enjoys reading and writing heartfelt, hopeful books that explore tough topics that aren’t often addressed in middle-grade literature. Her 2023 debut novel, It Happened on Saturday, has received several medals and was named a 2025 OLA Masterlist selection and Utah Beehive Award nominee, as well as a Crystal Kite Honor Book. A lifelong animal lover, Sydney lives with her family in a home where the dogs and cats outnumber the people. You can find her online at www.sydneydunlap.com.

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WNDMG Author Interview with Megan E. Freeman

By on February 12, 2025   /   Author Interviews, Diversity  

WNDMG Author Interview with Megan E. Freeman

Globe reading a book being held up by different colored hands representing diversity.

It always amazes me when I can pick up a book and discover something I’ve not been introduced to before. Away by Megan E Freeman is a great example of that! Her story introduces readers to scenarios that get us pondering: what would we do in such a situation?

I had the esteemed pleasure of sitting down to interview Megan. Here’s the inside scoop on both the author and her book…

 

KATE: Our Mixed-Up-Files readers would love the inside scoop on Away – your companion novel to Alone. Can you tell us a bit about the premise?

MEGAN: When an imminent threat alert causes a midnight evacuation in Colorado, four kids relocated to the same shelter become unlikely friends. After they stumble onto evidence casting doubt on the legitimacy of the evacuation, they begin an investigation that causes them to question everything and everyone around them. Through a series of covert and courageous efforts, the friends uncover the facts behind the “imminent threat” and must decide how—and if—they can expose the truth.

 

KATE: This is a multiple POV book – with each of the 4 characters quite literally written differently. Harmony is written in prose, Grandin in verse, Teddy in screenwriter script, and Ashanti in italicized verse. This change in style is new to me and rather exciting to see. How did you come up with this? And how did you know who to bring to page when?

MEGAN: There was a lot of trial and error! I knew I wanted to give each character their own point of view, so I started by thinking about what each of them was passionate about, and I let those interests inform the formatting for their voices. Some days I worked exclusively on one character and then slotted the pages into the manuscript later. Other days I worked on multiple voices in sequence. One nice thing about writing in Scrivener is how easy it is to move and rearrange pages, and I did a lot of rearranging. 

 

KATE: Let’s talk setting. Your characters meet at an evacuation center. I can’t help but think of Covid and being isolated from the world at that time. In Away, however, isolation is an understatement. Talk about some of the creative ways you took to build a somewhat normal life for your characters all the while shutting them off from the outside world.

MEGAN: I read a lot about the Japanese Internment Camps during World War II, and while I was drafting, my local museum had a timely exhibit of Ansel Adams’ photographs from Manzanar. It was extraordinary to see pictures of people holding concerts, playing baseball, and publishing newspapers. The human spirit is resilient, and even when faced with unimaginable injustices, people still find ways to carve out small comforts and little pieces of normalcy.

 

KATE: In the beginning, the 4 characters start off by documenting daily life at the center. As the book progresses, they uncover facts behind the cause of the evacuation and decide to expose the truth. I love how these kids tackle an adult situation. And in doing so, you keep the characters acting and thinking via “kid brain” aka how they interpret what adults have said. How did you nail that MG voice?

MEGAN: Oh gosh, I honestly have no idea. I invented characters, dropped them into a conundrum together, and then listened. I know that sounds kind of woo-woo and I wish I could explain it better than that, but it really is all about listening.

 

KATE: With multiple towns being evacuated, readers meet more than just 4 characters. When choosing who to add to your storyline, were any of them a surprise addition as you fleshed out the plot?

MEGAN: At first, I didn’t see Ashanti as such an immediate presence in the story. I knew she would be an Easter egg for ALONE readers, and in early drafts, she didn’t appear until the other kids arrived at the camp and Teddy’s grandma went to the medical clinic. But some young beta readers told me they wanted more from her, and I did, too. So I revised the early chapters to bring her into the story from the very beginning, and she really stepped into the spotlight. 

 

KATE: It’s often fun to read about the baddies of a book and how they put the protagonist in a corner. But with multiple POVs, Away’s baddie had to be something larger than a singular antagonist. How fun or difficult was it for you to write about a system working against its citizens?

MEGAN: It was so hard! Because—and I know the book will get criticism for this—I had to try to create a massive conspiracy of unprecedented scale while still allowing readers to suspend their disbelief. Not everyone will be able to accept the premise, and I get that. But honestly, all the extraordinary things that happen in AWAY have parallels in historical and current events. And I’m totally sympathetic to readers who will find the conspiracy implausible. It’s hard to conceive of the inconceivable. Until it’s not. 

KATE: I adore how Teddy references movies. As an example, he writes: “How do we expose the wizard? Where’s Toto when you need him?” Such a fun nod to the Wizard of Oz (for more reason than one when readers finish the book). I’m curious if the Wizard of Oz is your favorite book or movie and how other writers have shaped your journey to publication.

MEGAN: My first book, ALONE, was inspired by Scott O’Dell’s book Island of the Blue Dolphins, and throughout that book I enjoyed making allusions to Karana, his main character. For AWAY, I wanted to find another literary classic to weave into the story. Since my characters’ entire goal is to get home again, The Wizard of Oz was perfect. It’s a wonderful book, and the fact that it exists in different formats (book, film, stage play) was helpful in making connections to my different characters. Not to mention that the four characters in The Wizard of Oz become proxies for each of the kids in AWAY, right down to the dog.

 

KATE: What type of research did you have to do when creating the story world and cast of characters? I was super intrigued by Ashanti’s knowledge of mythology and science, mostly because these are not my areas of expertise. Are these aspects of your own interests which you’ve woven into the story?

MEGAN: I spent a lot of time researching, and I definitely wove my own interests into the story, along with the interests of friends and family. My husband grew up on a ranch and informed a lot of Grandin’s scenes, and my brother is a huge film buff who was very helpful with Teddy’s sections. I’ve always loved Greek mythology and I used to teach Ovid, but I had to research many of the goddesses Ashanti references. I watched videos on medical procedures (including how to use a cast saw), and a journalist friend consulted on Harmony’s pages. Another friend who is a former Army officer taught me a lot about military camps and jargon, and I went down the rabbit hole researching state and federal emergency response systems. I learned a lot!

 

KATE: Away is such an amazing companion novel to Alone. Without revealing spoilers, can you describe your writing process: in organizing your books, did you have the ending for book two in mind when you set out to write book one? And, can you give us an example of something you cut, changed, or reworked from draft to publication?

MEGAN: When I wrote ALONE, it never occurred to me that there would be another book. As far as I was concerned, it was a stand-alone story. But at every school visit, readers wanted to know more about the evacuation and the “imminent threat” that caused everyone to leave. After many of these conversations, I knew I needed to write a companion novel, and that’s where the idea for AWAY came from. Originally, I imagined the conspiracy on an even larger scale, involving the federal government and multiple states. But in talking with my editor, we realized it worked better to keep it contained to Colorado, limited to state and local governments. It was also helpful to fictionalize all the locations so that I had the artistic freedom to manipulate the setting. I did the same thing in ALONE, and it made logistics easier to puzzle out.

 

KATE: Thank you for taking the time to share the inside scoop on Away. Is there to be another evacuation you can hint at? Perhaps a new project in the works?

MEGAN: I just sold my first YA novel and it has yet to be officially announced, but I’m really excited about it. It’s completely different from the AWAY and ALONE books, and it’s set both in California and Norway, where I lived as a teen. It’s coming in 2026, and I’ll have more news about that soon. And I’m playing with ideas for a third book in the ALONE/AWAY universe. In ALONE there are three girls, Maddie, Ashanti, and Emma, who are supposed to attend the ill-fated sleepover. Now that Maddie and Ashanti each have their own books, it seems like there may need to be one more for Emma…we’ll see!

 

KATE: Where can readers best find you if they want to reach out?

MEGAN: I’m on lots of socials, and readers can also contact me directly through my website: www.MeganEFreeman.com. 

 

And….no MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so…

 

Favorite place to write? my home office in Northern Colorado

Dark chocolate or milk chocolate? dark

Superpower? teaching

Rollerblades or bike? bike

Dream job when you were a kid? author 🙂

House pet? a goofy yellow labrador named Cowboy

Favorite piece of advice for writers? Find a trusted reader who loves everything you write and makes you want to write more!

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Interview with James Ponti, bestselling author of City Spies: London Calling!

By on February 3, 2025   /   Author Interviews, Writing  

Cover of CITY SPIES: LONDON CALLING by James Ponti

Fresh off the release of his stellar THE SHERLOCK SOCIETY, James Ponti is back with the highly anticipated next thriller in the CITY SPIES series: LONDON CALLING. As always, the book is filled with action, adventure, humor, and heart. James was kind enough to speak with From the Mixed Up Files of Middle Grade Authors about his new novel, his approach to writing distinct characters, and a favorite book (with an ironic twist!).

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

London Calling takes a storyline that’s been building in the background of the first five books – with Mother and Clementine and Cairo and Annie – and brings it to the forefront. What was it like to tackle that storyline head-on?

There’s a couple things going into play with that. I know there are going to be at least eight books in the series, and there might be more. I thought – I have these ongoing stories, and I thought about readers – maybe some who’ve been with me the whole time, and they’re aging into different books. Perhaps I need to give them some resolution. But I don’t want to make the series feel like it’s over either. So what was interesting was trying to figure out how to wrap up some things and answer some big questions and at the same time create some new questions. So we have kind of a fresh start in the next book.

Everywhere I went where people were into the books, they would always ask me – is Clementine good or bad? And I told them, you know…I haven’t really fully decided – because what I didn’t want was for it to be an obvious one way or the other kind of thing. But I thought they deserved to have an answer to that question.

So in the last year, when I went out for either MISSSION MANHATTAN or if I was out for THE SHERLOCK SOCIETY, when kids would ask that I’d say, you’re going to find out in February!

I was drawn into the book from the get-go. The first chapter has such a great action sequence with Annie her best friend, but you also did such an incredible job revealing her character. How do you make sure you’re doing both of those things?

That was for me a really big challenge. I knew I wanted the book to start with [Annie] because we haven’t met her, and we don’t know what we think about her – although we have no reason to think she’s bad. Unlike Clementine, she’s never done anything to make you question her goodness or badness or which side she’s on – she’s just a character we don’t know about. And I wanted to get to know her, but also – I like to start the books with a big…I want them to suck you in. Hopefully!

One time I went on Goodreads, which is a mistake [laughs]. And this kid wrote – and I thank this kid a lot – because this kid wrote about the first book: I really like this book, but boy did it take forever to get started. And that gnawed at me for years. So the next book starts with like, hijackers landing on the ship about to take it hostage. I wrote that and I’m like, is that soon enough for you? Like talking to this kid out loud at my computer [laughs]. So you know, I like the book to really start with like something that’s going to grab you, hopefully.

The challenge is: how do we have that and not have it be empty action? How do we get to know this character during the action? …[T]he only way I’m going to get to know her character is if she has a friend to talk to. That became key.

…[T]hose [story] necessities led to me try to think: what’s her personality like? What kind of relationship does she have with her mother? And then – where I can break up the action with dialogue or with her thinking of an internal monologue to try to show her personality?

This is Book Six, and all the main characters have established traits about each of them, but you’re still revealing new things. How do you find that balance?

The first thing about the characters is – I started with five of them, and now there’s six – and what I did is: I took my five biggest problems as a middle schooler, and I gave each kid one of those problems. So that in a way, they would be five variations of me in middle school. And why I wanted to do that was because I wanted to never favor one over the other. I never wanted to be more vested or identify more with one of the other, and so I started with that. Then there’s other thing that is really backward… So I’m going to give you longer answer you want but hopefully it all makes sense. [laughs]

I went to see the DEAD POET’S SOCIETY with my mom back when that movie came out. I don’t know you’re familiar with it, but halfway through the movie, those kids – even though a lot of them now become actors we recognize – were all unknowns. All the kids have basically the same haircut, and they all wore matching uniforms. And halfway through the movie, my mom turned to me and she says: I can’t tell them apart. I don’t know who’s who. And that’s stuck with me forever as a writer thinking – how frustrating for a reader. To get confused with characters.

And I knew – here, I’m going throw five kids at you. And how am I going to make it work so you’re going to be able to keep track of them well? And that’s why I came with the idea, if I named them after the cities from – that gives you a little more tangible hold. It’s not Tom and Bob and Larry. It’s Paris. Oh, he’s the one for France – so I know his backstory instantly every time I see Paris, if I remember [he’s] the one that came from France.

So I made a list of 150 cities that I thought would be good character names. And I just scanned that list, and I said, I want one from each continent. So I had the names of the characters first.

You also have the profiles in the back of the book, so if you’re reading you can always flip back-and-forth. I think that is fantastic. How did those come about?

I’m not smart enough to come up with that. [laughs]. Actually, I got a call from my editor for the first book who said – someone in the sales meeting asked, wouldn’t it be neat if we had [character profiles]? I said, that would be great. You could go back and you could check.

And it was great – we got the artist to do solo shots of them all so they felt a little more real. Because it wasn’t just the ones on the cover. It’s like they each have their own yearbook picture. So I had to spend a lot of time trying come up with those. That’s actually the hardest part of the book to me is writing the dust in the back. Then they wanted to run the same one [for the second book]. I said no, we have to change it.

It forces us to really flesh them out – and also, I want to change how we do it. So one is them by themselves. In one of them they write about each other.

One of my favorite sections of the book is where the villain, Le Fantôme, quotes from The Little Prince that, “all grown-ups were once children, but only a few of them remember it.” He then says that he reads that book every year. To close, do you have a book that you find yourself re-reading like Le Fantôme?

…I was the worst reader growing up. I was terrible at it and was a really slow reader. Very frustrated by it, which is why I first started in television writing. I never thought I could write a book because it was such a struggle for me to get through. Ironically, the one book that got through to me is FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER.

It is my North Star, and I love it. There’s a funny story about it – so it’s the book that for whatever reason I got hooked on.

I grew up in a beach town in Florida outside of Jacksonville. We’re talking 30,000 people in four communities side by side. And when my first book came out, I said – I want to send a copy to Elaine Konigsburg and say to her: thank you for writing your book because without your book I know I would not have written this book. And so I tried to track down where she lived, and it turned out my whole life, she lived in my hometown. I had no idea.

I wish I knew that as a kid because I think [writing] would’ve seemed more attainable if I thought someone who lived here did it as opposed to – oh, you have to be in New York in Chicago or Los Angeles you have to have it you know XY&Z kind of things to check off the boxes…so the closest thing would be From the Mixed-Up Files!

James Ponti is the New York Times bestselling author of four middle grade book series: The Sherlock Society following a group of young detectives; City Spies, about an unlikely squad of five kids from around the world who form an elite MI6 Spy Team; the Edgar Award–winning Framed! series, about a pair of tweens who solve mysteries in Washington, DC; and the Dead City trilogy, about a secret society that polices the undead living beneath Manhattan. His books have appeared on more than fifteen different state award lists, and he is the founder of a writers group known as the Renegades of Middle Grade. James is also an Emmy–nominated television writer and producer who has worked for many networks including Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, PBS, History, and Spike TV, as well as NBC Sports. He lives with his family in Orlando, Florida. Find out more at JamesPonti.com.

 

CITY SPIES: LONDON CALLING releases February 4 and is available at bookstores everywhere.

You can see more purchase options at: Simon & Schuster.

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