Author Interviews

Interview with New York Times Bestselling Author Michael P. Spradlin

By on September 25, 2024   /   Author Interviews  

Today, we’re thrilled to welcome New York Times bestselling author Michael P. Spradlin to the Mixed-Up Files! Michael, who happens to be one of the most prolific authors on Earth–he’s written dozens of books for children, teens, and adults–is here to talk about his latest MG novel, Rise of the Spider, the first of a planned six-book series set in pre-World War II Germany. The novel, praised by Kirkus as “[A] fast-moving, stirring tale….Clear of stance and cogent of theme,” is out now from Margaret K. McElderry Books.

And now, without further ado…

Interview with Michael P. Spradlin

MR: Welcome back to the Mixed-Up Files, Michael! It’s a pleasure to have you here.

MPS: I’m happy to be here! Wherever here is! 🙂

Rise of the Spider: A Summary

MR: Your latest novel, Rise of the Spider, the first in a planned six-book series, is set in pre-World War II Germany during the Nazi Party’s rise to power. Can you tell MUF readers more about the book and its 11-year protagonist, Rolf?

MPS: Rise of the Spider takes place in 1929. Each book–which will feature a different protagonist and examine how the rapid, accelerating change in Germany affects all of them–will be set in a different year, leading up to 1934 and after Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany.

The first book features Rolf Von Huesen who lives in Heroldsberg, Germany, with his father and brother. Rolf’s older brother died in the Great War, and his mother passed during the Spanish Flu right after he was born.

MR: At the beginning of the novel, Rolf suspects that his older brother, Romer, is being courted by the Hitler Youth. What impact does this have on Rolf and the choices he makes throughout the novel?

MPS: Ultimately it nearly tears Rolf apart. Romer is Rolf’s idol, the person who has most taken care of him since his mother died during the Spanish Flu. Romer’s got it all: He’s smart, handsome, and athletic. To see him so easily seduced by Nazi ideology is devastating to Rolf.

The Role of Friendship

MR: While Rolf is struggling with his brother’s involvement in the Hitler Youth—and later, his role in the destruction of Jewish-owned shops in their small Bavarian town—he leans on his outspoken best friend, Ansel, for support. What role does friendship play in the novel? How does it help—and, in many ways, hinder—Rolf’s struggle?

MPS: I’ve been told by many readers and librarians that the central theme of my novels is often the true meaning of friendship. I guess that’s right. In this case, Ansel’s friendship helps by giving Rolf a sounding board. While Ansel is definitely a wiseacre, he is also a good listener. He’s just as puzzled by Rolf at what is happening. Yet he also pushes the envelope and likes poking the bear, which often leads to trouble. But, if nothing else, Ansel is loyal as all heck to his friends.

The Real Heroldsberg

MR: Since the novel takes place in pre-World War II Germany, in a small Bavarian town called Heroldsberg, what sort of research did you do in order to ensure authenticity? I know you traveled to Bavaria, and to Heroldsberg itself. How did the trip deepen your understanding of the historical events fictionalized in your novel?

MPS: I’m obsessed with Heroldsberg! What an idyllic, beautiful, and picturesque place. And like most of Europe it is just dripping with history. Major battles of the Thirty Years War were fought there. Bavaria is just stunning, and every time you turn around you think you are going to see Cinderella’s castle. Being there had a real influence on writing this book. Usually in my historical novels, I’m writing about a place that no longer exists. In this case, I could walk the streets and cobblestones that had been there since the middle ages.

The Long-lasting Impact of WWII

MR: This isn’t your first middle-grade novel set in Nazi-occupied Europe. Into the Killing Seas, The Enemy Above, and Prisoner of War all are set during WWII. What impels you to write about this historical period? What makes it meaningful to you?

MPS: I think it’s because I was deeply affected by the war. I say this because my dad was a veteran. Other than his children being born, I think it had to be the most profound experience of his life and it impacted his beliefs greatly. Notably, his brother was killed in action on Omaha Beach.

I grew up in a small town and every single man within five years of my father’s age had served. They were my teachers, coaches, scout leaders, bosses, and mentors. I know it had an impact on them, and therefore on me. I think my father, a quiet, sensitive man, was greatly influenced by his brother’s death. I think he had horrible survivor’s guilt.

I also believe that World War II is the most transformative event in human history thus far. We are still living with many of its outcomes today. First, it was truly a global conflict with more than eighty countries taking part. In our country, we saw women enter the workforce in large numbers as well as the beginnings of racial desegregation. We also made enormous technological advances in a very short time. While the war was a horrific loss of blood and treasure, it also served to propel humanity forward in many ways.

The Takeaway

MR: What do you hope readers will take away from the series?

MPS: I want them to understand that evil is insidious and can be presented in all kinds of promises and pretty packages. It can also be very hard to spot–especially at the beginning. It can even sound appealing. That’s why it’s important that kids understand how someone like Hitler came to power; how he tailored his message to the those who were disenfranchised by war, poverty and a lack of hope. But all along he was selling a pig in a poke.

Michael’s Writing Routine

MR: Switching gears, let’s talk about your writing routine. Do you have a specific time of the day when you like to write? Any particular writing rituals? Also, what’s the secret to being so prolific? You’ve published a gazillion books! (Well, 33 and counting.)

MPS: By and large, I write mostly at night–but sometimes during the day as well. Usually my computer is open to a manuscript all day and I am sitting down and tapping out a couple of sentences throughout the day.

As for being prolific, it is a blessing and a curse. I have a brain that doesn’t believe in downtime. I’m always thinking about new ideas and new projects, and I always have multiple projects in the works.

Planning and Organizing a Series

MR: As stated above, Rise of the Spider, is the first installment in a planned six-book series. How do you organize the writing process for such a big project? It seems like a herculean task!

MPS: I use a lot of spreadsheets. I keep them for continuity, and correctly spelling character names. And keeping track of physical descriptions. I have general outlines for all six books, but they aren’t strict so if the story takes me in a different, better direction I can adapt.

MR: In addition to MG, you also write picture books, YA, and books for adults, including a volume of haikus about pirates (!). What’s the key to writing books for different age groups? 

MPS: I’m not sure there’s a key. Obviously with kids’ books there are things like language and themes you need to watch out for, but the main goal is to write as well as you can. Kids need to be the hero, and you can’t have them saved by adults at a critical moment. Other than that, I’d say to be honest… and treat your audience with respect.

Lessons from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

MR: Rumor has it that you’re a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. I have questions…

MPS: OMG! DID WE JUST BECOME BEST FRIENDS? I was never so saddened to learn the truth about what happened to the creator of the show. It was so brilliantly written and acted. But I came to realize that a lot of art throughout history has been created by not so great people. In the case of a movie or television show, it takes far more than the writer to make it work.

Hundreds of people contribute from actors to cinematographers and their contributions also play a key role. I think you can still appreciate it from that perspective. If someone horrible did something behind the scenes, aren’t we further punishing the actors and the hundreds of other people involved in the show who can least afford to be punished by us no longer watching? That’s a rhetorical question. I’m not sure what the answer is. But in a vacuum: BTVS is a great accomplishment by all involved.

MR: What are you working on now, Michael? More books in the Web of the Spider series, I’m guessing?

MPS: Yes, more Web of the Spider books. Then I have a trilogy I’ll be shopping soon, but these books will be my main focus for the next couple of years.

Lightning Round!

MR: And finally, no MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so…

Preferred writing snack? Oatmeal schotchie cookie

Coffee or tea? Neither

Cat or dog?  Love both. Own a dog. Allergic to cats

Plotter or Pantser?  Total pantser

Zombie apocalypse: Yea or nay? Um. YES!

Superpower? I can melt an ice cube with my mind. It just takes a while. Also, I can do a killer Sean Connery impersonation, but no one knows who he is anymore.

Favorite place on earth? My house with my family present

If you were stranded on a desert island with only three things, what would they be? Boats. Boats. Boats

MR: Thank you for chatting with us, Michael—and congratulations on the publication of Rise of the Spider!

MPS: Thank you for having me! Watch for The Threat of the Spider coming in summer 25!

Bio

Michael P. Spradlin is the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author of the Spy Goddess series, The Youngest Templar series, and the Web of the Spider series, as well as several works of historical fiction, including the Western Heritage Award–winning Off Like the Wind: The Story of the Pony Express. He currently resides in Lapeer, Michigan, with his wife, daughter, and his schnoodle, Sequoia. Learn more about Michael on his website and follow him on X, and Facebook.

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Author Spotlight: Amalie Jahn + a GIVEAWAY

By on September 19, 2024   /   Author Interviews  

In today’s Author Spotlight, Jo Hackl chats with USA Bestselling author Amalie Jahn about her new middle-grade novel, Team Canteen (Pixel+Ink).  Amalie is the recipient of the Literary Classics Seal of Approval and the Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal for her debut YA novel, THE CLAY LION. Her first YA contemporary, THE NEXT TO LAST MISTAKE, won the prestigious IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award in 2020. She is a contributing blogger with the Huffington Post and Southern Writers Magazine. A TED speaker, human rights advocate, and active promoter of kindness, she lives with her husband, two children, and three extremely overfed cats.

Plus, there’s a chance to win a finished/signed copy of Team Canteen if you enter the giveaway. Scroll down for details. 

All about the book!

On the final night of summer camp, Tasha, Raelynn, Claire, and Billie get busted stuffing themselves with ice cream in the mess hall’s walk-in freezer. But when they slip away without being punished, they’re convinced the pink feather boa Billie put on to stay warm is magic.

Back at home, each member of Team Canteen tests the boa’s powers as they face their own challenges. When her little cousin moves in with her destructive dog, Tasha struggles to find her place inside her adoptive family. Claire’s scared the kids at school will find out how hard life’s gotten since her dad lost his job. Raelynn longs to be someone other than her sister’s twin. And with a hockey-obsessed family charting his every move, Billie’s worried he’ll never be able to share his dream of becoming a figure skater.

It’s going to be a rocky road from the start of the school year back to Camp Happy Hollow. Will the boa continue to protect Team Canteen, or will their friendship end up being the most magical find of all?

Amalie, many thanks for answering my questions.

Jo: Team Canteen combines the best parts of The Baby-Sitters Club and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, turns them upside-down, and modernizes them for today’s kids. Why did you think the market needed a new series like Team Canteen?

Amalie: A lot of recent middle grade series are big stakes books. The Last Kids on Earth series is about zombies and the end of the world. All the kids in The Forgotten Five series have supernatural powers. All of Rick Riordan’s books are full of life and death situations. But I don’t write big stakes. I write small stakes. Quiet stakes. And I think sometimes small stakes are enough. Making it through middle school is tough. There are a lot of obstacles. Parents who don’t understand. Classmates who bully. Siblings who tease. Hormones. The struggle to fit in. And these problems are valid and worthy of discussion. Kids need to see real problems tackled on the page.

 

Jo:. Team Canteen is told in alternating chapters from four different perspectives. How did you handle the logistics of writing from so many different points of view?

Amalie: It was tough, honestly! At first, I started writing sequentially. A Tasha chapter, followed by a Billie chapter, followed by a Claire chapter, and so on. I felt like I needed to draft chronologically to keep the pacing and plotlines consistent. What I found pretty quickly, however, was that it was nearly impossible to get any traction with regard to each character’s voice jumping from head to head in that way. At about ten thousand words in, I decided to draft each character’s story independently from start to finish and not worry too much about how they would ultimately intersect with one another. Once each character arc was complete, I was able to go back through and layer in places where their stories connected. The text chains between them really helped with that.

 

Jo: You’ve spent the last ten years writing for young adults. What was different about writing for a younger audience?

Amalie: One of the most obvious differences I encountered between YA and MG was point of view. Although I’d written all of my young adult titles in first person, the majority of middle grade books I encountered were written in third. It didn’t take long to realize the difference in POV could be mostly attributed to voice. In addition to voice, it became apparent that YA and MG characters were compelled by different motivations. For example, the majority of my young adult characters’ choices were influenced by their desire to find their place in the world, but most of the MG characters from my research were more concerned with fitting in with immediate friends and family.

 

Jo: At the beginning of the book, Tasha finds a feather boa that the kids are convinced is magic because it keeps them from getting in trouble. What is the point of this unique talisman?

Amalie: Honestly, the boa was initially a plot device. A way to connect the four stories and drive the narrative forward with regard to keeping the kids involved in each other’s lives over the course of the school year. Ultimately, however, it became something far more. A confidence booster for the kids to help them face tough decisions and difficult situations. Sort of like Dumbo the Elephant and his magic feather. He could always fly without the feather, but having it gave him the confidence to do what he was always capable of on his own. And in the case of Team Canteen, their friendship was the real magic.

  

Jo: To which of your four main characters do you relate the most?

Amalie: It’s hard to say which one I relate to the most because there’s a bit of me inside all of them. Like Billie, I understand the pressure of living inside a family with rigid expectations for success. I see myself in Tasha and how jarring it can be when your sense of self is completely shaken. I identify with Claire and the reality of her family’s difficult financial situation. And I empathize with Raelynn and the stress of trying to fit into a world that doesn’t quite understand you. But mostly, I remember deeply what it was to live on the periphery. To be on the outside looking in, hoping to find a way to become cool and popular overnight. That feeling of otherness is what I relate most to, and I think—I hope—lots of readers will too.

 

Jo: Can you tell us a bit more about your motivation to write Team Canteen? 

Amalie: For the past several months, I’ve been working on not one, not two, but three adult manuscripts. And I have to be honest when I say that writing for adults isn’t tugging at me quite the way writing for young people does. There’s something special about knowing that the children reading my words may see themselves (or others) in the pages and take something meaningful with them long after the final chapter is done. The Team Canteen kids are a tribute to the kid I was and the kids I knew. Their friendships and their stories speak to the type of friendship I think every child longs for, and I count myself grateful to have had strong childhood relationships that endure to this day. We might not have always been the smartest or the richest or the funniest or the coolest, but we met each other where we were and that was enough.

 

No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round, so.. . 

Favorite cities (besides the one in which you live):  Barcelona and Venice

Favorite musical group or artist:  I’m a huge 90s alternative girl. The Cure. Tori Amos. The Dave Matthews Band. 

Would you rather be able to speak every language in the world or talk to animals?  

Oh I’m definitely talking to animals. 

Favorite ice cream flavor? Mint Chocolate Chip

Do you prefer mountains or beaches or somewhere in between?  I’ve been a beach girl my whole life but my family recently got a little fixer upper on the top of a mountain, and it’s become my peaceful happy place. 

Favorite childhood TV show?  The Muppet Show

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?  First drafts don’t need to be perfect, they just need to be written. 

Jo: Thanks for chatting with us Amalie!

And now. . . .

For a chance to win a signed copy of Team Canteen, comment on the blog—and, if you’re on Twitter/X, on the Mixed-Up Files  Twitter/X account, for an extra chance to win!  (Giveaway ends September 26, 2024 MIDNIGHT EST.) U.S. only, please. Book will be mailed after publication.

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Westfallen: Interview with authors Ann Brashares and Ben Brashares

By on September 18, 2024   /   Articles, Author Interviews  

When you see the name Ann Brashares, you probably think of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. I sure do. So when I saw the premise of siblings Ann Brashares and Ben Brashares’s new book, I was intrigued. Here’s the description that got me hooked:

Westfallen is an action-packed middle grade alternate history thriller that asks what it would be like to wake up in present-day America if Germany had won World War II.

It sounds amazing, right? I had the pleasure of reading it (just released September 17!) and interviewing both Ben Brashares and Ann Brashares.

About the Book

Hi Ann and Ben! I’m so excited to “meet” you both!  This was a great read because it combined historical fiction with contemporary fiction. It also had many humorous elements that will really appeal to reluctant readers. Before we begin, here’s the full description of Westfallen.

Henry, Frances, and Lukas are neighbors, and they used to be best friends. But in middle school, things can change fast—Frances has become an emo art-girl, Lukas has gone full sports bro, and Henry has gone sort of nowhere. But when a dead gerbil brings them together again, the three ex-friends make an impossible discovery: a radio buried in Henry’s backyard that allows them to talk to another group of kids in the same town…on the same street…in the same backyard…seventy-nine years in the past.

The kids in 1944 want to know all about the future: are there jetpacks? Laser guns? Teleportation? Most of all, they want to know about the outcome of the war their dads and brothers are fighting in. Henry and his friends are cautious—they’ve all seen movies about what happens when you disrupt the fabric of time—but figure there’s no harm in telling them a little bit, just enough so they can stop worrying so much. And, at first, everything seems fine. Nothing’s changed—well, nothing so big they can’t contain it, anyway.

Until Henry, Frances, and Lukas wake up on May 6, 2024, to an America ruled by Nazis. They changed history. And now it’s up to them to change it back.

 

As I was reading Westfallen, my daughter noticed that it says Book 1 on the spine. Is this going to be a trilogy or a series? Care to share more on this?

Yes, this is a trilogy. We are currently finishing up our first draft of Book 2. If all goes as planned, Book 2 will be out around this time next year, and Book 3 about a year after that.

About the Authors

So the obvious question for those of us with siblings . . .How did you write this together? Please walk us through how this worked.

Ben Brashares

BB: We settled fairly early on the idea of using two different points of view. It just seemed to make sense in terms of utilizing our two different writing styles and dividing up the work. As far as the sibling thing goes, I think it kept us going at times. We’d disagree about things, as all partners do, but it couldn’t ever really rise above a certain level because we’re kinda stuck with each other. I suppose for that reason we’re always putting our siblingness first (shame I’m not a girl, I could’ve used “sisterhood” there). But, yeah, we probably fall into some classic ‘birth order’ dynamics at times –Ann is seven years older and has a strong maternal sense. I’m a classic youngest in a lot of ways –lack discipline, always try to go for the joke, fold easily, etc.

The process itself is pretty straight-forward. We write a detailed outline together and then set mini-deadlines for our scenes or chapters and send to each other to read and offer notes. Ann tends to have a lot more notes on my stuff.

 

What character do you each feel you share personality traits with?

Ann Brashares

BB: I’m a solid mix of all three of the modern day kids. I’d say I have Frances’s peanut gallery irreverence, Henry’s anxiety/sensitivity, and Lukas’s jock/bro thing (used to anyway).

AB: Alice is kind of my antithesis, and I love writing her for that reason. She’s bold and impulsive, happy to cheat and lie as needed. I’m probably more like Lawrence, cautious and cerebral.

 

What is something from your childhood that you snuck into the book?

We recycled some names.  We grew up (mostly) on Primrose Street in Chevy Chase, MD. That’s the street where Alice and Henry live. We had a lot of dead gerbils/hamsters/guinea pigs growing up.

 

Are there any Easter Eggs or nods to other books or movies in Westfallen? (I sensed maybe something related Back to the Future??)

BB: There are a lot of pop cultural references. One of the things we really loved about the series concept was that the kids in Westfallen could use their knowledge of their (our) timeline as sort of a super power.  Westfallen folks never got Star Wars or Justin Beiber or any of that, so our kids try to use their inside knowledge to gain an advantage where they can. Mission Impossible plays a role in Book 1. Back to the Future is one my favorite movies of all time, but I think we steered clear of that reference. Maybe too ‘on the nose’. Book 2 has a LOT of this stuff. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off makes a strong showing. We should probably try to be a bit more current in our references.

 

What books and movies have influenced each of your writing?

BB: I grew up on TV and movies much more than books, I’m a little sad to say. Ann was much more of a reader (nerd) than I was. I was a classic 80’s kid. I loved Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark (my favorite), Michael Jackson, Prince, Atari, He-Man, Three’s Company. TV was terrible back then but movies were generally better. It was until I got out of college that I started really reading. Too late to call anything super influential.

AB: I love classic stories, like The Princess Bride and It’s a Wonderful Life, the kind that are uplifting to the point of corny.

 

Best sibling story you two have together.

Oh man. That’s tough. How about top five. . . Our brother, Justin (four years older than me, three younger than Ann), had a pair of real police handcuffs (who knows how he got them). One slow summer afternoon when I was about four, he decided to put them on my ankles. After he cinched them real tight, he made a grand display of pretending to swallow the key by throwing it up in the air and catching it in his mouth. I think he saw it in a cartoon or something. Unfortunately, the key went right down his throat. He was as surprised as anyone. Ann walked in soon after and saw my feet turning blue and got very worried. Justin, I remember, was more worried about the key in his stomach. Anyway, Ann threw me on her shoulder and ran me a long block and a half to a neighbor’s house, where a construction crew sawed the handcuffs off in time to save my feet. As a nice capper to the story, Justin called me into the bathroom a few days later and showed me the key.

 

Research/Writing

Who came up with the original idea for Westfallen and how did it come about?

BB: We had been each throwing out ideas for several months. Just about all them involved some type of time travel element and some type of friendship dynamic. But that’s sort of boring so I’ll just go ahead and take credit for the radio. And I’ll cede the WWII stuff to Ann.

 

Not sure if you’re willing to share, but did one of you write Henry’s point of view and the other write Alice’s? Care to reveal more on that?

BB: Yes, I wrote Henry and Ann wrote Alice. But we were both pretty involved in working out who the characters were when we started. Ann helped more with Henry than I helped with Alice. Because she’s my big sister and that’s what big sister’s do. And when those big sisters have already written a #1 best-selling franchise and spent nine years editing YA/MG before that, you let the big sister do basically whatever she wants to your character.

AB: I’m coming off as a bossy know-it-all here, but I guess I deserve it. I am awed by Ben’s humor, his imagination and intuition, and mostly try to help make it make sense. When it comes to six characters in two different time periods punching holes through time, that’s not easy.

 

I have also attempted a time travel book and know how hard it can be. What snags did you hit when trying to make this work?

So many snags. So many mind-melting headaches. Because we really tried hard to do it right! It was very important to us to avoid moments where a reader would go, “waaaait a minute, if they. . .how are they. . . ?” But the butterfly effect is notoriously tricky to work with. You just have to make your rules and stick by them. We hope we succeeded in doing that.

 

For Teachers

Are you doing school visits related to this book?

We’ll be doing a book tour just after the book launches on September 17th. We’ll be visiting middle schools in Richmond, DC, Chicago, Austin, Houston, and maybe one or two others.

 

How can we learn more about you?

If you’d like to learn way more about me and my wife and kids and pets than you’d ever want to know, you can visit www.thesahdlife.com. It’s a blog I wrote for a few years just after becoming a dad. It’s a (hopefully) humorous look at my life as a stay-at-home dad to three kids. Other than that, I’m hoping to do a little better with my social media presence when we get a breather after Book 2.

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