Author Interviews

An Illustrated Novel For The Spooky Season – NO PLACE FOR MONSTERS – Interview With Kory Merritt

By on October 15, 2020   /   Author Interviews  

‘Tis the #spookymg season, Mixed-Up Files Family! I’m excited to welcome Kory Merritt, author and illustrator of a super creepy new novel, NO PLACE FOR MONSTERS, for an interview, today.

Willow and HeckbenderMeet Willow & Heckbender ~ Monsters

This is one of the first images I saw related to NO PLACE FOR MONSTERS. Just look at these two character monsters! And they’re reading books. 💚#thud-lud, #thud-lud

Kind of explains the reason I couldn’t resist chatting with their creator, right?

But I must warn you. Be patient as you scroll through this interview for more illustrations await you – even a page or two from within the book. It’s amazingly written and illustrated with all the shrills and shrieks the October season beckons for . . . and spooky readers adore.

Let’s take a peek, shall we?

 

The Book📙Book - NO PLACE FOR MONSTERS

In this spellbinding, lavishly illustrated story that Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney calls “wildly imaginative and totally terrifying,” two unlikely friends face down their worst fears in order to stop their small town—and themselves—from disappearing.

Levi and Kat are about to discover a very dark side to their neighborhood.

Nothing ever seems out of place in the safe, suburban town of Cowslip Grove. Lawns are neatly mowed, sidewalks are tidy, and the sounds of ice cream trucks fill the air. But now . . . kids have been going missing—except no one even realizes it, because no one remembers them. Not their friends. Not their teachers. Not even their families.

But Levi and Kat do remember, and suddenly only they can see why everyone is in terrible danger when the night air rolls in. Now it is up to Levi and Kat to fight it and save the missing kids before it swallows the town whole.

Interview🎩

Welcome to our Mixed-Up Files home, Kory! We’re excited to have you stop by. I have to start by asking you: NO PLACE FOR MONSTERS has all sorts of spookiness oozing from the pages. Did you like spooky stories as a kid? If so, why do you think you did? Any favorites?

Oh, yes! I’ve always loved spooky stories. As a kid, my favorite book characters were always the creatures—Gollum from The Hobbit, the sea-rats from Brian Jacques’s Redwall series. Even as an adult, I still love reading books with strange and imaginative monsters: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, The Jumbies series by Tracey Baptiste, numerous classics by legends like Stephen King and Tananarive Due. Now more than ever, it’s fun to escape to monster land.

Would you give us a peek into this story in five words?

“Lost kids battle memory monsters.”

Ooh . . . now, what made writing this story spooky and fun, but also important to you?

Much of the story revolves around stolen memories and forgetting—or being forgotten by—loved ones. My grandmother, who died two years ago, suffered from Alzheimer’s, and it was horrific to see the disease steal her memories and entire identity. NO PLACE FOR MONSTERS is mostly creepy-fun (I hope), but there is that memory-loss angle that is a bit deeper, I think. So that was important.

I’m very sorry about your grandmother.Mending Heart I’m sure many families will relate to this.

Did you set out to create an illustrated middle grade book? Did the images come first, the writing, the characters . . .? Briefly share this process, please. We’d love to know!

I used to be an elementary school art teacher, and I wrote and illustrated stories and comics for fun. They were published on a syndicate site called GoComics. The creatures and basic story that became NO PLACE FOR MONSTERS originally appeared on GoComics in 2011 and 2012. I think the creatures came first—they usually do. I was obviously inspired by Stephen King books I’d read as a kid, plus the Neil Gaiman stuff I was reading at the time. I met the amazing superstar agent Dan Lazar through my work with the game site Poptropica and its book series. He encouraged me to try my own spooky kids’ story. So I dug up the old GoComics stories and he and my awesome editor helped me shape them into what would become NO PLACE FOR MONSTERS.

Wow, this is super interesting! What an author/illustrator’s journey you’ve had. It’s well-known that middle grade readers love stories that scare them. But there needs to be more to create a successful story. What’s the more in NO PLACE FOR MONSTERS?

I hope the memory-loss angle hits hard. Family members forgetting you can be a terrifying concept. Also, I like that the two main kid characters, Levi and Kat, are not friends at first—they have issues. Both of them have social trouble, and they both have to work together because of circumstance. They have a lot of difficulties with each other.

There’s plenty of mystery going on in Cowslip Grove, the location of this story. What would you say makes the mystery these kids have to solve unique?🔍

I guess the mystery becomes extra difficult for the kids because no one remembers them, their own town is no longer welcoming and views them as strangers, and familiar faces and places are now strange and untrustworthy. And they are being stalked by bogeys that no one else can see.

Creative FunCrayon

I must go back to the artwork. It’s fabulously done! What is your favorite part of illustrating in general and then for this story?

Thank you! Oh, I love drawing strange creatures, wildlife, old trees, rocks. I tried to squeeze a lot of tiny details into the rocks. Some of the book’s unanswered questions are actually answered (or at least hinted at) through tiny hidden fossils and lichen shapes in the rocks.

(*#Teachers, #Librarians – your students are going to totally fall for this book.) Here’s a few illustrations:

 

Would you please share a little about your main characters and why you believe middle grade readers will relate to them.

The two main kid characters, Levi and Kat, both have a lot of social interaction difficulties. Levi is very introverted and doesn’t like leaving his home or being with anyone but his sister. Kat has trouble controlling her emotions, has outbursts, and frustrates most people around her. They aren’t friends at the start, but are quickly forced out of their comfort zones when strange things happen to their lives. They make a lot of mistakes along the way. They’re brave, but also scared. I think a lot of middle grade readers could relate to one or both of them.

What do you hope readers take with them once they’ve finished the book?

A little strangeness can be a good thing. Appreciate weird creatures. And excessive lawncare is ridiculous—stop using weedkiller.

Haha! Perfect.

For our writing readers, any advice for writing spooky stories?

Read, write, and draw as much as possible! Read lots of books: prose books, books with lots of pictures, books with no pictures. Books by a wide variety of authors. Books outside your comfort zone. Write and draw and try to get things published locally. You’ll write and draw stuff that will be embarrassing in a few years, but hopefully you’ll have developed and honed your style. And have fun! You should love writing and drawing even if only a few people see it.

For scary stuff . . . I don’t know. I guess think about the stuff that creeps you out and try to create your own twist on it?

A silly scenario:
a. You’re in a dark alley with monsters lurking toward you. You notice a small box at your feet. Opening the box, you find chalk in all colors. What do you draw to get you out of this mess?

Oooh! I take out the chalk and start to draw an elaborately detailed cephalopod that will no doubt awe the monsters and inspire them to drop and worship the Supreme Chalk Squid. But as usual, I get carried away with the details, miss my window of opportunity, and the monsters eat me before I finish.

Oh my! This is hilarious. *snorts . . . then apologizes*

Lastly, do you have any upcoming projects you care to share with our readers?

I’m doing another book with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for Fall 2021. It’s a follow-up to No Place for Monsters, with some of the same characters, and plenty of new creatures. It’s set in a haunted school. As a former art teacher, I find the school setting easy to write about. Much of it is told through “found footage”—illustrations seen through the view of cameras and phones. Sort of like an illustrated Blair Witch Project. It’s experimental. Hope it works!

This sounds fabulous! Thank you  for sharing your monsters and humor with us. Your wisdom and joy for reading and writing is inspiring.

All the best from your Mixed-Up Files Family.

About the Author

Kory MerrittKory Merritt—a former public school art teacher from Rochester, NY—enjoys drawing and writing (and reading) strange stories, strolling through old forests, and peeking under rocks for weird creatures. Keep up with Kory: Website | Instagram | Twitter

 

 

As Promised . . . two pages from NO PLACE FOR MONSTERS!

Want more illustrated or graphic novels for middle grade readers? Here are a few past posts that will help! LINK & LINK

Share your thoughts on Kory’s new book! We’d love to know.

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Vanishing Hitchhikers and Ghost Dogs! An Interview with Kerrie Hollihan

By on October 12, 2020   /   Articles, Author Interviews  

Hey Mixed-Up Filers!

Kerrie Hollihan

I jumped at the chance to interview author Kerrie Hollihan about her new book, Ghosts Unveiled!, because it’s exactly the sort of book I would have fought over with my friends in the school library when I was a kid. It’s spooky, well-researched, and best of all, it’s part of a series of similarly enthralling titles (the next one is about bones – how cool is that?). I asked Kerrie about her experiences, her writing methods, and obviously her favorite halloween costume. 

CL: Thanks for talking with me, Kerrie! In the introduction of Ghosts Unveiled! you write about some of your personal experiences with the supernatural – were there any specific experiences in your life that motivated you to explore the topic of ghosts?

KH: Are you surprised if I say “No”? Abrams Books for Young Readers had Mummies Exposed! in the works when they proposed a series called “Creepy & True.”  They had my proposal for a next book (Bones Unearthed!), and suggested I write a second title for the series about ghosts. Little did I know how much I’d learn.

CL: The book lists LOTS of different kinds of ghosts – do you have a favorite? 

KH: Hmmm. I think my favorites arise out of doing research, so my favorite stories have pointed me to my favorite ghosts.  One would be the ghost of the English soldier from the Gallipoli battle in World War One, and another is whatever tugged at the leg of Vernon Peterson, the elderly cemetery groundskeeper who questioned the odd-looking Civil War grave and spurred the identification of the Black soldiers buried there.

CL: Yes! I really loved that part of the book! Ghosts Unveiled! is full of well-researched anecdotes and snippets from historical accounts. Can you share some tips or strategies for doing research?

KH: Often I dig into my memory bank for events I’ve studied or places I have been, and then my research starts. Unlike Mummies Exposed! or the new book I’m writing, Bones Revealed!, for Ghosts Unveiled! I pinpointed “my” ghosts, then I went to historical societies, old newspapers…and online research is a godsend when you want to dig up old accounts of ghosts, so I started with contemporary reports published in the early 1900s, 1800s, or even earlier on archive.org or Project Gutenberg. Some accounts are online, but for others I relied on my wonderful Cincinnati Public Library for old books, many of which are referenced in the endnotes of Ghosts Unveiled! (Hereward Carrington’s Psychical Phenomena and the War, for one!) Magazine articles and blog posts are also a good start, though I pay careful attention to the details, because often these are wrong. For fact checking, I go to Britannica.com—and not Wikipedia, although their footnotes often lead me to other prospects.

CL: So how do you organize all that information?

KH: I organize my research two ways: I find three or four big nuggets of info that will become individual chapters in each book, and then I spend time thinking about other chapters that will round things out. I use Evernote to clip articles and posts from the web and organize these by topic.  When I want to get an impression of a very long passage in a book, I often dictate a note into Evernote as I read through.  If I find a good quote, then I dictate that with the citation, as well.  Ha…in the end…it’s all about the endnotes!

CL: Well, speaking of individual chapters – one of my favorite parts of the book is the section on animal ghosts (which I did NOT realize was a thing!) – was it hard to find research on that subject?

KH: Surprisingly, no. They just appeared as I was looking things up. The “black dog” ghost is a super big presence in the British Isles, but I was looking for an American dog ghost.  I wrote an entire section on the ghosts who hung out with of the famed dog author Albert Terhune from the early 1900s, but then I read that he was a notorious racist. I decided not to get into any controversy, so I ended up with a better choice, and that would be the Black Dog of the Hanging Hills, whose tale I found on archive.org. 

CL: The haunted locations in the book span the entire globe. Are there any specific locations you’ve been to or hope to visit?

KH: I’ve been to many, as it happens. I think after I’ve traveled someplace, my psyche is left with a bit of the vibe, as it were.  I’ve traveled in the UK and Ireland, the American Southwest (my dad lived near the scene documented by Antonio Garcez of the ancient ghost that creeped out the boys on the road outside Tucson.) In 2011 I was in Japan as they prepared to celebrate Obon, to welcome back the spirits of their ancestor, by lighting up a massive display on a hillside – little did I know I’d be writing about Japanese ghosts a few years on! 

CL: Yeah, really! Was there anything else that surprised you as you were working on the book? 

KH: At first my research covered ghost legends and ghost folklore, and I learned that these are meticulously cataloged in volumes of books. About 1950, students at Utah State collected and cataloged ghost stories. Here’s an example from the “Vanishing Hitchhiker” … 

  1. Supernatural Non-Religious Legends

2.1. Revenants

2.1.1. Revenant or Evidence of Appears Along Roadway

2.1.1.1 Vanishing Hitchhiker (Folder 1)

…2.1.1.2 Driver vanishes. (Folder 2)

2.1.1.3 In Payson, Utah, female appears in middle of road, is hit and leaves blood and scratches on car.

2.1.1.4 Old woman appears in front of car at place where she was killed long before.

2.1.1.6 White ghost dog appears and disappears along roadway.

2.1.1.7 Old sheepherder who was beaten to death searches roadway for his lost body.

2.1.1.8 Mysterious man gives aid at accident site. …

 

CL: Wow – that’s really wild that it’s part of recorded history like that! Your books all focus heavily on history and science. What motivates you to write on those subjects?

KH: It’s truly gratifying for me to read your observation, though I’m not quite sure why I write like this. I guess it’s how I look at the past and how I like to explain things to my young readers. The crossroads of history and science is fun to research and to write about.  “You can’t have one without the other…”—like that old Sinatra tune😊

CL: And what would you say to a skeptical reader who doesn’t believe in ghosts?

KH: Seeing ghosts is a personal experience. I could go into a long discussion about God and science and worldview and so on, but let’s leave it at that! 

CL: Okay, Kerrie – now comes my favorite part…the lightning round! Here we go…Favorite place to write?

KH: In my son’s old bedroom, still with the stars he pasted on the ceiling for nighttime.

CL: Favorite authors?

KH: George Saunders, Jennifer Winspear, Eric Larsson, Ian McEwan

CL: The BEST scary movie is…

KH: The Exorcist

CL: Do you have any pets?  

KH: A black Ausiedoodle named Maleficent for my favorite Disney (cartoon) villain. But she’s Malley for short.

CL: Best desert? 

KH: Cherry pie a la mode

CL: Spookiest book you’ve ever read?

KH: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. Spooky, informative, and theological all in one.And a short story!…“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

CL: Best Halloween costume? 

KH: My Maleficent costume that I sewed myself about 30 years ago….I still have it.

CL: Thanks, Kerrie! It was so fun getting to talk with you!

 

Kerrie Hollihan writes award-winning nonfiction for young people. Her new book is Ghosts Unveiled!, second in the Creepy and True series for Abrams Books for Young Readers. The first, Mummies Exposed!, garnered four four-star reviews.  Kerrie’s books have been honored as “notables” by the Children’s Book Council/National Council for the Social Studies and more. She’s especially thrilled that Mummies! is accessible for vision impaired readers through the Library of Congress.

To learn more about Kerrie, you can visit her on her website, and Kerrie also belongs to the highly regarded nonfiction author group iNK Think Tank and its interactive partner, Authors on Call – www.inkthinktank.com/. She blogs with other authors at Hands-on-Books, and you can catch her three-minute talks about lots of things at iNK’s Nonfiction Minute. 

Thanks, everyone…and don’t forget to leave a comment below for a chance to win a free copy of Ghosts Unveiled! 

See you next time!

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Middle-Grade Mysteries, Spy, & Sci-fi stories featuring South Asian Characters: Interview and Giveaway with Sheela Chari

By on October 7, 2020   /   Author Interviews, Diversity, Fiction, For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers, Writing  

Hello Mixed-Up Filers! I’m pleased to welcome Sheela Chari, author of the new mystery series, The Unexplainable Disappearance Of Mars Patel, for an interview at Mixed-Up Files today.

                                   

Hi Sheela, thanks for joining us today at Mixed-Up Files.

Thank you for having me—it’s great to be back! Years ago, I was one of the original members, and I loved interviewing other writers! These days, writing, teaching, and being a parent has taken over much of my time. But it’s definitely fun to be in this familiar space again.

 

About THE UNEXPLAINABLE DISAPPEARANCE OF MARS PATEL

The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel follows Mars Patel and his pals on their quest to find their missing friend, Aurora, who might be part of a chain of other disappearances around the world leading back to billionaire inventor, Oliver Pruitt. It’s a story filled with conspiracy theories, deceptive adults, and enterprising kids who know how to rely on technology and each other to solve problems.

Mars Patel was originally produced as a podcast mystery drama series for kids by Gen-Z Media.

Now, it’s also a middle-grade novel and series written by me!

When I was invited to write the novelization, I was asked to take an audio-drama and re-envision it in written form. I had to really think about who Mars, Caddie, JP, Toothpick and the rest of the characters were, and the stories of their lives not captured in the podcast. It was a lesson in character study and plotting, and even rethinking everything I knew about dialogue. In the book, you will find a traditional story littered with emails, texts, podcast transcripts, and other asides to capture the same chatty dynamic of the podcast. It was really my wish to reflect the very interesting, funny way that young people talk to each other today both online and IRL (that’s “in real life” for the uninitiated).

On Mars Patel identifying as an Indian-American spy kid

Representation have always been important for me. It’s the reason that I wrote my mystery novels, Vanished and Finding Mighty, which both feature Indian-American detectives, and are rooted in my experience of growing up Indian-American. I also make an effort for the other supporting characters in all my books to reflect the diversity and inclusiveness I see and cherish as a part of being an American immigrant. The Mars Patel series is a perfect representation of these ideals. Not only that, Mars gets to do those very things that ALL kids should be seen doing in novels: sleuthing, pranking, laughing, messing up, apologizing, doing better, taking risks, and growing up.

 

                                                         

 

On how reading mysteries was an integral part of your childhood

When I was young, I would pore over Nancy Drew books in my library and at home. Not just the stories themselves, but also those wonderful interior illustrations and cover art, observing how Nancy Drew, and her loyal friends, Beth and George, transformed from book to book. To me, they were heroes and old friends, and even the way I met my own best friend (we found each other in the Nancy Drew aisle of the Iowa City Public Library). From then on I would graduate to other mysteries and spooky stories (Lois Duncan comes to mind!). But I do believe this idea of mystery-solving and friendship finds it roots in those Nancy Drew mysteries and a shared love for them with a close friend.

On drawing inspiration from your own life when writing this book

The original podcast hints at a story set in the Northwest. I went a step further and set the book in Washington State, where I lived when I was in middle school and high school. Mars’s fictitious town of Port Elizabeth is based on all the trips I made to Seattle and the Puget Sound as a young person. So writing the book was truly a trip down memory lane for me. I also went on a recent vacation to visit an old friend in the Puget Sound, and it was very inspiring. I used all kinds of details — taking the ferry across the water to Seattle, that particular quality of rain, clouds, and occasional sun, the up-and-down hills, the inky waters of the Sound —to help me describe Port Elizabeth. It was so much fun!

On immersing yourself in a MG sci-fi with corporate conspiracies

Yes, in this story there are bad guys, surveillance, and a conspiracy to hoodwink kids. Even so, for me, Mars Patel is about looking to the future, where anything is possible, even a chance to start over as a society. It’s a book that celebrates technology, space travel, and innovation. Not to say there aren’t threats — Book 1 starts with a Code Red scene in school. Later books in the series take on the urgency of climate change. Even so, the story has always given me a surprising and upbeat way of looking ahead, of knowing that kids growing up now will have the mindset to invent and think differently. Thank goodness.

Sheela Chari is the author of FINDING MIGHTY and VANISHED, which was nominated for an Edgar Award. Her latest middle-grade novel, THE UNEXPLAINABLE DISAPPEARANCE OF MARS PATEL, based on the Peabody-award winning podcast, is out this October from Walker Books US, an imprint of Candlewick Press. Sheela teaches creative writing at Mercy College and lives in New York.

Want to own your very own signed copy of The Unexplainable Disappearance Of Mars Patel? Enter our giveaway by leaving a comment below! 

 

You may earn extra entries by blogging/tweeting/facebooking the interview and letting us know. The winner will be announced here on October 16, 2020 and will be contacted via email and asked to provide a mailing address (US only) to receive a signed, personalized book.

 

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