Author Interviews

Interview with Supriya Kelkar, author of, American as Paneer Pie

By on June 9, 2020   /   Author Interviews  

Hello Mixed-Up Filers!

Today, I am pleased to welcome to our site, Supriya Kelkar, author of American as Paneer Pie, which came out this week from Aladdin.

JR: Hi, Supriya and thanks for joining us today!

SK: Hi! Thanks so much for having me on!

JR: First off, for those who don’t know about the book, can you tell us a little bit about American as Paneer Pie and where the idea for this story came from?

SK: American as Paneer Pie is about an Indian-American girl named Lekha, who lives in a small town in Michigan that doesn’t value diversity and her journey to find her voice and learn how to speak up for herself and speak out against hate. The idea for the story came from my own childhood, growing up in a small town in Michigan that didn’t value diversity. The story came to me in 2017 when hate was becoming emboldened and encouraged in a very public way that brought back a lot of feelings from my childhood that I had buried and tried to forget. I was also facing the fear that my own young children would be dealing with the same things I did and that not much had changed in the decades since I was their age. The first draft came very quickly to me because of how deeply I felt the story, and because I had lived much of it. The final result is a story full of love and hope that I hope will inspire and empower readers.

 

JR: I was fascinated by this book for many reasons. I’ve lived many places, where I was the ‘other’ and dealt with repercussions for that. So, I have to ask, was anything based on real life incidents for you?

SK: Much of the book is based on real-life incidents of othering and hate that I experienced in elementary school, middle school, and high school. The feeling of having two versions of yourself, at school, and at home, is one I can really relate to. I would have my Hindi film music on loud at home and beg my Dad to roll the windows up when it was playing in the car when people could hear it. The moments where Lekha feels embarrassed by her culture or religious holidays are ones I experienced regularly. And the words involved in the hateful incident Lekha experiences are words that have been shouted at me before. Although what happens at Lekha’s house is not something that happened at my house, we did have a rock thrown through our window when I was younger. It took me a long time to find my voice. I don’t think I really started to find it until college but luckily Lekha’s journey to find her voice happens much earlier than that.

 

JR: I’m sorry that happened. Your main character, Lekha, had a foot in two different cultures and had to make some tough decisions. Again, I identified with that aspect from my own experiences. How common do you think that is now?

SK: I think it is still fairly common, especially in spaces that have not embraced diversity. But I’ve observed it happening with kids even in spaces where diversity is really appreciated. I remember being at one of my children’s extracurricular activities and an Indian American high school teacher there was talking in an Indian accent and mocking it to make the students he was teaching laugh. I think that feeling of wanting to fit in is universal and can often lead to having to make tough decisions.

JR: You have a background in screenwriting, for both Hindi films and ones for Hollywood. What are some of the differences that you’ve seen between them.

SK: What we think of as Bollywood today really came to be as a form of escapism. So a lot of the more far-fetched moments in some Hindi films happen because of that. But both forms of filmmaking generally have the same goals, either to entertain or to be thought-provoking, so as different as they are, I think they also have much in common.

 

JR: How has that background in screenwriting helped in your transition to MG novelist?

SK: I write my novels the way I was taught to write scripts, with a three-act structure. I start with character journals, where I get to know all the big characters’ voices and goals. I then use the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet to come up with the main turning points and act breaks. I then outline each chapter. And then I start writing the first draft.

 

JR: I also read on your website, https://supriyakelkar.com/ , that you grew up watching Bollywood films to learn Hindi. Not even lying, I LOVE Bollywood films. What are a couple of your favorites?

SK: A couple of my favorites are Lagaan and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. Both films are about the triumph of an underdog. Lagaan deals with British colonialism and racism, while Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar explores privilege. And of course they both have great songs!

JR: Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey getting to this point? (How long it took, how you got your agent, publisher etc)

SK: I wrote my first novel in 2003 and got my agent in 2016, so it has been quite the journey full of hundreds and hundreds of rejection letters from way back when rejection letters were on paper, and transitioning over to the current era of rejections being sent over e-mail. The novel I wrote in 2003 changed drastically over the years with revisions, and eventually became AHIMSA (Tu Books, 2017), which won the New Visions Award from Lee & Low Books in 2016 and was published the next year. I had given up on querying in the middle of 2015, I think. So when I found out I had won the New Visions Award and was going to have a book published, I queried again and heard back from the amazing Kathleen Rushall at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, who became my agent!

 

JR: Ah, paper rejections. I also have a few of those that I saved. What’s your writing process like?

SK: I spend a lot of time thinking about the story and characters before I write anything. I like to figure out who my characters are, what their wants are, and how they will change, and then tackle the story after that, to figure out how to get my characters to get to their final destinations.

After that stage, I again spend a lot of time plotting before I get to work on the actual draft.

 

JR: What’s your favorite book from childhood?

SK: When I was in elementary school, my aunt and uncle gave me the gift of a book of the month club for several years. This was in the pre-Amazon days so I was always so amazed when a package would arrive each month with books just for me. I still have every one of those books and although it is hard to pick just one favorite, I remember being really drawn to the art in picture books by Holly Keller, Tomie DePaola, and in books by James Stevenson.


JR: What’s your favorite movie?

SK: I have a lot of favorites but the one I loved to watch over and over again a lot growing up is probably the aforementioned Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, which has one of my favorite Hindi songs of all time in it, Pehla Nasha. On the surface it is the story of a bike race between colleges but it also examines wealth distribution and privilege.

 

JR: Something people would be surprised to learn about you?

SK: I’m afraid of circles. Okay it’s more like a repeating pattern of circles and really any shape, like in a honeycomb, or lotus seed pod, and it has a name: Trypophobia. It makes me shudder and I have to look away.

 

JR: Then, I won’t add a graphic here. 🙂 What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve received and is there any advice you can give to writers looking to break in?

SK: Jim Burnstein, an incredible screenwriter who taught me at the University of Michigan, always emphasized the importance of revision. I think learning to not be attached to your words and understanding just how important several revisions are in writing, is one of the best pieces of advice I can give to writers looking to break in. It’s hard at first but I’ve always found my work improves drastically with each revision I do.

 

JR: Revise, revise, revise. Always great advice! What are you working on next?

SK: I’m working on revisions for my next two middle grade novels. The first, STRONG AS FIRE, FIERCE AS FLAME (Tu Books, fall 2020) is historical fiction, set in 1857 at the start of the Indian uprising against the British East India Company. It challenges who we center in stories and who we leave out and will hopefully make readers think about these questions when it comes to classics like The Secret Garden and other books and stories. The second is THAT THING ABOUT BOLLYWOOD (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, 2021), which is about a Bollywood-loving girl named Sonali who isn’t very good at sharing her feelings. When her parents announce that they are separating, Sonali is suddenly forced to express herself in the most obvious way, through Bollywood song-and-dance numbers, thanks to a magical condition. I’m really excited about both of these books!

 

How can people follow you on social media? 

I’m on Twitter @supriyakelkar_ and Instagram @supriya.kelkar and my website is www.supriyakelkar.com

 

JR: Thanks again to Supriya Kelkar and make sure you go out and get American as Paneer Pie!

SK: Thank you!

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SEVEN CLUES TO HOME: Interview + Giveaway

By on June 8, 2020   /   Articles, Author Interviews  

Seven Clues to Home, co-written by the fabulous Gae Polisner and Nora Raleigh Baskin, releases this week, and I couldn’t be happier to feature the novel on The Mixed-Up Files. Learn about the book, the authors, and the characters below. And don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of the book (U.S. Only).

Here’s a bit about the book.

Joy Fonseca is dreading her thirteenth birthday, dreading being reminded again about her best friend Lukas’s senseless death on this day, one year ago — and dreading the fact he may have heard what she accidentally blurted to him the night before. Or maybe she’s more worried he didn’t hear.

Either way, she’s decided to finally open the first clue to their annual birthday scavenger hunt Lukas left for her the morning he died, hoping the rest of the clues are still out there. If they are, they might lead Joy to whatever last words Lukas wrote, and toward an understanding of how to grab onto the future that is meant to be hers.

 

And here’s a bit about the authors:

Gae Polisner is a lawyer by trade, but a writer by calling. Her books have received multiple awards including a Bank Street Best, Pennsylvania School Library award, multiple Nerdy Book Club awards, and a Golden Archer, Wisconsin’s Children’s Choice Award. Her bestselling book, The Memory of Things is used in schools around the country. Gae lives on Long Island with her husband, two musical sons, and a suspiciously-fictional looking dog. When she isn’t writing, you can find her in a pool or the open waters off Long Island. She has swum a 10K and holds out hope that one day her wetsuit will morph her into a superhero.

 

Nora Raleigh Baskin is the author of fourteen novels for middle-grade readers and young adults and a contributor to several short story collections. Her books have won several awards, including the 2010 American Library Association Schneider Family Book Award for Anything But Typical (S&S), and in 2016, an International Literacy Association Notable Books for a Global Society for Ruby on the Outside (S&S).

 

 

While we tried to interview Gae and Nora, the two main characters of the novel insisted on having their say. As a result, today we’re talking with Joy Fonseca and Lukas Brunetti of Seven Clues to Home.

Read what they had to say and chat back in the comments section for a chance to win a copy of the book (U.S. only). I’ll pick a winner June 10 at 11:59 PM and announce it on June 11.

The story you tell is called Seven Clues to Home. Can you tell us what “home” means to you?

Joy:  My mom and dad. Isabel and Davy, of course. I love my room. The smell of food coming from my kitchen when it’s around dinner. My mom bakes a lot, too. She makes cupcakes on my birthday.

Lukas: Home is weird for me. I lived in one place, not far from here, then my Dad died and now we live here. It’s not as nice, but I don’t even remember the other place that much, and maybe I wouldn’t have met Joy the way I did if I only lived there. So, yeah. Here is home. *shrugs*

Does what “home” means stay the same or change during difficult times?

Joy: Well until lately, I haven’t really had many difficult times. I know other people do, though (looks at Lukas) but I’m lucky I always have my family.

Lukas: This question is so weird. Home is where my mom and brother are. Same whether it’s hard or easy, I guess. Right?

 

Well, but, how are you finding joy in these difficult times?

Lukas: Haha, “Joy.” People always do that to her. I find her how I always do. I go up to her apartment.

Joy (sort of pushes Lukas with her shoulder): Yeah, I get that one a lot. But, um, I guess I really like being with Lukas. Since he moved into the Dolphin apartments where we live, we hang out a lot together.

Lukas: Yeah, our scavenger hunts are fun. We’re trying to make them harder. We like to stargaze together, too. I find Joy doing that too, get it?

 

Here is an easier question. Do you have any favorite books?

Joy: That’s an impossible question to answer.

Lukas: No it’s not. I thought we both agree. Love that Dog.

Joy (giggling): Oh, right.

 

What about music?

Joy (sitting up in her seat excitedly): What I really love would be to be able to play the guitar! I love love love Ariana Grande.

Lukas: My brother likes rap. So I guess that’s pretty cool.

 

Do you have any fun plans for the summer?

Joy: Well, we both have birthdays in the summer, three days apart, which used to suck —

Lukas: But don’t suck now because of our annual scavenger hunt tradition. Wait’ll you see . . . Never mind . . .  (ears redden)

Joy (blushes): What? What do you mean?

Lukas: Can we end this now?

 

Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Seven Clues to Home.

I’ll pick a winner Wednesday night at midnight and announce on Thursday.

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Melanie Conklin Interview + Giveaway

By on May 28, 2020   /   Articles, Author Interviews  

Today I’m thrilled to interview Melanie Conklin about her new novel Every Missing Piece. It was great hearing about her writing process as well as the fabulous Everywhere Book Fest, which she helped create. Read the interview below and then write us in the comments section for a chance to win a copy of the book (U.S. residents only). I’ll pick a winner Saturday night at 11:59 PM and announce on Sunday. Enjoy the interview and good luck!

First, here’s a bit about Melanie and her book.

Maddy Gaines sees danger everywhere she looks: at the bus stop, around the roller rink, in the woods, and (especially) by the ocean. When Maddy meets a mysterious boy setting booby traps in the North Carolina woods, she suspects the worst.

Maddy is certain she’s found Billy Holcomb–the boy who went missing in the fall. Except, maybe it’s not him. It’s been six months since he disappeared. And who will believe her anyway? Definitely not her mom or her stepdad . . . or the chief of police.

As Maddy tries to uncover the truth about Billy Holcomb, ghosts from her own past surface, her best friend starts to slip away, and Maddy’s world tilts once again. Can she put the pieces of her life back together, even if some of them are lost forever?

 

 

Melanie Conklin grew up in North Carolina and worked as a product designer for ten years before she began her writing career. Her debut middle grade novel, Counting Thyme, is a Bank Street Best Children’s Book, winner of the International Literacy Association Teacher’s Choice Award, and nominated to four state reading lists. Her second novel for young readers, Every Missing Piece, was published this week with Little, Brown. When she’s not writing, Melanie spends her time doodling and dreaming up new ways to be creative. She lives in New Jersey with her family. Connect with her on twitter @MLConklin.

 

What was the inspiration for Every Missing Piece?

The funny thing is that when I begin to write a story, I often don’t know why I’m writing it, and I usually haven’t discovered what my inspiration actually is. When I started writing Every Missing Piece, I had this question in my mind as to what would happen if you found a missing child. Especially if you were also a child. As the plot of the story came together, I found that I was writing about a family facing a very difficult time. Somehow, that is always the story I tell, just in different forms.

You’ve been praised for your “fine Southern storytelling” in reviews. Can you tell us a little about how your own upbringing in North Carolina played a part in your writing of this novel?

My first book, Counting Thyme, had a lot to do with how I felt about living in New York City for the first time. In Every Missing Piece, I wanted to tell the story of what it felt like to grow up in North Carolina. My parents were from up North, so we didn’t always fit in with the expectations of a small Southern town. It was difficult for me to deal with being an outsider as a kid, but over time I also experienced the affection and loyalty of a close-knit community. I hope those good reviews mean that I managed to communicate these qualities in a genuine and honest way, because I have a lot of love for North Carolina.

I know many readers and writers are fascinated by the process of writing and publishing a novel. Can you tell us a little bit about your title and the first line of the novel? Did you have both before you started? Did they evolve? If so, what were some of the titles and first lines that you didn’t use?

The title of Every Missing Piece used to be “All the Missing Pieces.” I tweaked the title during revisions with my editor, Tracey Keevan. That’s not a very big change, but it felt big to me! I usually figure out my titles very early in the writing process and they stay the same the whole way through. I like thematic titles that give the reader multiple meanings as they read. Originally, Every Missing Piece had a completely different opening chapter, but we cut it during revisions because it wasn’t needed. Sometimes less is more.

I love the idea of thematic titles. Do you find that there are themes in common with both of your novels that are important to you?

Themes are interesting. I remember learning about themes back in grade school and wondering how authors managed to wind thematic ideas throughout their stories. Now I know that themes aren’t something you plan in advance. Themes just happen organically, and yes, I tend to revisit the same ones over and over. Some common themes you’ll see in both of my books: family, secrets, friendship, and food. There is always a strong thread of food as comfort and community in my stories. Probably also because I’m always hungry!

Ha! I love reading and writing about food as well. Why have you chosen to write for the age group of middle-grade readers?

I wasn’t very familiar with the term “middle grade” when I first started writing, but it didn’t take long to figure out that I like stories set in middle school. There’s a part of me that’s still that age, I think. It’s such a tough time in a kid’s life, when you are growing up whether you want to or not. I certainly never felt ready to grow up. I think I was the last girl in sixth grade to buy a bra! And that was only because my best friends basically forced me to. So it makes sense that I tend to revisit those times in my life, when I was learning how to be a friend, how to be a daughter, and how to be me. I love that middle grade stories always have a sense of wonder and adventure to them. We are in a golden age of middle grade literature for sure! Some recent recommendations from me: Love Like Sky by Leslie Youngblood, Just South of Home by Karen Strong, and Ultraball by Jeff Chen.

Thanks for those recommendations. What would you like readers to come away with after reading Every Missing Piece?

I hope that readers come away from Every Missing Piece with love in their hearts for flawed characters, because we all have flaws. I tend to write about grownups who have made bad choices. As a kid, it took me a while to learn that grownups can make mistakes, too. In this story, I explored the idea of what makes people good or bad quite a bit. Life is not always that simple. People are complicated, and they don’t fit neatly into boxes. Hopefully this story gives readers some food for thought, and they are excited to discuss it with their friends.

Can you give our readers who also write one of your best pieces of writing craft advice?

My favorite piece of writing advice is to be kind to yourself. As writers, we are encouraged to accept criticism of our work, and often that can lead to being super critical of ourselves all the time. When you are drafting, do your best to put your inner critic to bed. There will be time for analysis later. Drafting should be about exploration, so let your subconscious take you where you want to go and enjoy yourself!

Great advice! Would you like to tell us a little about the Everywhere Book Fest?

I was in the midst of cancelling my book tour when my friend Christina Soontornvat (A Wish in the Dark) asked me if I would like to help her and Ellen Oh (The Dragon Egg Princess) create a digital book festival in place of Covid closures. I wasn’t doing anything at the time, so I said yes! LOL. We had no idea that Everywhere Book Fest would grow to be such a signficant event in the publishing world, but I’m so happy that viewers found the sense of community and celebration that we were hoping for. If you missed the festival, all of our content is still available on our website and Youtube page!

Thanks, Melanie, for a great interview!

To get to the Everywhere Book Fest Youtube Page, click here.

To order a signed copy of Every Missing Piece, click here.

And don’t forget to comment for a chance to win a copy of Every Missing Piece.

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