Posts Tagged Author Interview

THE SILVER BOX ~ An Enchantment Lake Mystery: Interview with Award-Winning Author Margi Preus

By on October 26, 2020   /   Author Interviews  

Welcome to my interview with Award-Winning Author, Speaker, and Educator Margi Preus! We’ll explore her latest release THE SILVER BOX: An Enchantment Lake Mystery – book 3 in the series. Margi’s stories hold breathtaking and bold journeys such as found in her books Heart Of A Samurai and Village Of Scoundrels.

The Book📚

THE SILVER BOX: An Enchantment Lake Mystery

The Silver Box ~ An Enchantment Lake Mystery

by Margi Preus

In the final Enchantment Lake mystery, Francie’s search for the truth about her mother—and herself—plunges her into danger during a North Woods winter.

Everything depends on a small, engraved silver box. If only Francie can follow its cryptic clues to the whereabouts of her missing mother she may finally understand the truth about who she really is. But one ominous clue after another reveal that Francie possesses something so rare and so valuable that some people are willing to do anything to get it. When her pursuit leads her into the snowy north woods, It is only to find out that she, herself, is being pursued.

BOOK 1 & BOOK 2

 

The Interview🎙️

It’s wonderful to have you join us here on the Mixed-Up Files, Margi. Let’s begin with your young self. What was she like? Did she enjoy reading? Writing? Was she adventurous?

Young Margi had the independence of Francie (the protagonist of The Silver Box) if not the bravery. As the last of six kids who spent summers at a lake cabin along with dozens of cousins, I had a prodigious amount of freedom and independence. I roamed around like a stray (mostly wet) dog all summer. So, yes, adventure was a big part of life. There was plenty of reading. I like to think I wrote, but I recently found my childhood diary, which is 99%empty, so probably not. However, I used to make up plays with my friends which we would perform for unsuspecting relatives.

Sounds like a wonderful childhood. It also gave you lots of material to write about, I’m sure. (Flannery O’Conner from your answer below😊)

Readers have watched Francie, your main character/modern-day sleuth, grow over the course of the previous two books in THE SILVER BOX Series. Why will young readers be drawn to her?

I imagine that Francie’s life of independence—kind of a more grown up, somewhat more serious Pippi Longstocking—would be appealing to kids. She lives on her own and makes her own decisions—not all of them good ones. She also gets herself into some hair-raising adventures. As a kid I would have been drawn to all of those things.

What do you hope readers learn from Francie’s journey?

I don’t presume to know what, if anything, readers will learn or gain from any of my books. I would be thrilled even if it is simply to have an enjoyable reading experience—one that makes them want to read more!

That would be a wonderful takeaway!

This series has been described as a great read for fans of Nancy Drew and those who enjoy cozy mysteries. What makes this series and THE SILVER BOX: An Enchantment Lake Mystery as its final book, unique? Were you sad to finish it?

I think the setting is one of the unique things about these stories, and it’s been fun to write a book set in a place I know so well, which is northern Minnesota lake country. And it’s been fun to live vicariously through Francie’s dangerous adventures. (Especially when you know she’s going to make it out somehow or other).

Haha! Yes, I’m sure.

It is always sad to leave a character you have grown to know and love. But she is graduating from high school now and it’s a little like sending a kid off to college.

A More Personal View🦋

Your books all have a sense of timelessness about them. How do you believe you accomplish this?

Thank you! And I have no idea! I do try to avoid slang for the most part, mainly because it’s impossible to stay current, but also because it does have a tendency to date a piece of writing. Our constantly changing technology is also a challenge. If you’re writing a story set in contemporary times, you have to acknowledge our ever-present phones, laptops, tablets, and other devices, but fortunately, there are plenty of places in the Enchantment Lake area where cell service is spotty—and of course the cold weather drains batteries rather quickly, so our heroes often have to solve their problems the old fashioned way: resourcefulness, bravery, quick-wittedness.

On your website, you mention being inspired by family members and their stories. Who have you used specifics of their stories and turned them into something unique for your characters and the world they live in?

I suppose most characters have some elements of people we know. None of my characters are direct one-to-one matches to anyone in particular, most are built of a combination of various traits and characteristics of people I know or imagine. I used to say that the somewhat loopy great aunts in the story were based on my own aunts and my mother—I have recently realized that, actually, maybe I am one of those dotty old aunts myself!

I’m sure you’re a wonderful aunt!

You had a lot of ‘odd’ jobs before you began writing for young readers. How have those experiences helped you become a writer and how can aspiring writers look to their current circumstances or situations and turn them into writing fuel and material?

Wasn’t Hemingway a big proponent of having a lot of experiences so you had something to write about? But then there was the genius Emily Dickinson who never went anywhere. And Flannery O’Connor famously said, “Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days.”

So, far be it from me to offer advice about whether to live large or stay home and write, but I personally am glad for all my experiences and my many very “odd” jobs. Although I don’t know that I have written specifically about any of my oddball work experiences, they have given me a wealth of experience, introduced me to a wide swath of humanity, and no doubt broadened my horizons.

This is such a wise and insightful answer. It’s really making me think.💡 Thank you!

What have been your biggest obstacles when a story idea came upon you and what have you found helped you the most in overcoming them?

The obstacles are familiar to all writers:  doubt that your idea, that what you’ve written, and that what you’re about to write has any merit. That challenge rears its head pretty much on a daily basis. The way forward is, as Robert Leckie advised, to “go up and shoot that old bear under the desk between the eyes.”

For Our Teachers and Authors🍎🏫🎒

What is your favorite aspect of in-person or virtual school visits and how can authors be more accessible to students? Do you have any favorite online platforms or activities you use during your visits?

Thanks for asking about virtual visits, which I have done through Skype and more recently Zoom and Crowdcast, but would use whatever platform the school or group is using. Of course I love the energy of being with a whole room or auditorium full of kids, but I am looking forward to doing more virtual—and interactive—visits. Some things I’ve done lately include creating a story together, and a virtual treasure hunt.

Ooh . . . creating a virtual story with students for your visit. Now that sounds like something students would love!

I am currently working on developing a game to accompany The Littlest Voyageur (Holiday House 2020) which would be great for any group reading that book or studying the fur trade. (Read-aloud chapters of The Littlest Voyageur are available on my YouTube channel.)  I am also planning a Zoom conversation with some of the people I interviewed for Village of Scoundrels (Amulet/Abrams, 2020) which I will record and make available as a resource to accompany that book or for holocaust studies. As for The Silver Box or any of the mysteries, I think it would be very fun to construct a mystery with students, which would give us a lot of opportunity to talk about story construction, building suspense, developing characters, and all kinds of other good stuff.  Of course, I am also available to talk about writing and my books in general

In this world that seems so upside-down, what reading and writing advice can you share with our teachers and librarians?

All I really want to say to teachers, librarians, and parents is thank you. Thank you for hanging in there and for taking care of the kids. Please take care of yourselves, too! We appreciate you. And if you really want some reading/writing advice, email me with your specific questions. Seriously.

💚💚💚

Inquiring minds are super excited to hear what they can expect next from you. Please share!

Thanks for asking! I have a couple of picture books in the pipeline. They won’t be out any time soon—but 2020, the pandemic year, was my year for books—I have three out this year: Village of Scoundrels, The Littlest Voyageur, and The Silver Box— thank you anyone for noticing!!

And thanks for taking this time to check in with me, Mixed Up Files!

Picture books . . . Yay! You have so much work releasing soon. So exciting! Thank you for sharing your wisdom and writing self with us. You are inspiring.

The Author

Margi Preus is a New York Times bestselling author of books for young readers, including the Newbery Honor–winning Heart of a Samurai.Author Margi Preus Among her other novels are Village of Scoundrels, Shadow on the Mountain, West of the Moon, and The Bamboo Sword, as well as the previous two books in the Enchantment Lake series, Enchantment Lake and The Clue in the Trees, which were published by the University of Minnesota Press and received the Midwest Book Award and the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award. She lives in Duluth.

Find Margi: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Love learning about authors? Here’s a recent author interview in our MUF archive.

The Giveaway

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Distress Signal: A Chat with the Author + Giveaway

By on October 23, 2020   /   Author Interviews  

Looking for a fresh adventure book? I had the pleasure of reading Distress Signal, set in Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona, and interviewing the author, Mary E. Lambert. Be sure to read to the end for a chance to win a signed copy of her book.

Distress Signal by Mary E. Lambert

 

Thank you, Mary, for sharing Distress Signal with me, which just came out October 20. I love a good adventure, and I learned so much about survival skills.

About the Book

Can you give us a short summary about Distress Signal?

After a flash flood separates Lavender and three of her classmates from the rest of their sixth-grade campout, the four feuding friends must find a way to work together if they want to make it out of the wilderness alive.   

About the Author

You mention in your book’s About the Author that you grew up using a ham radio. Was that something you were interested in or that your parents had you to do?

While I grew up around ham radio, I was not actually licensed to use it. My grandpa, my dad, and both my brothers had their licenses, but I never took the test. I was intimidated by the amount of studying required, which is probably why I was so proud of my niece when she became the first girl in our family to earn her license. This really motivated me to write a story with a young female protagonist who embraces amateur radio as a pastime.

Mary sent me this great picture and caption: “Here I am—all ready to hike! Behind me, you can see the ‘Wonderland of Rocks’ that make this national monument so famous.”

 

Tell us about your writing journey: Did you enjoy writing as a child? What did you write about?

I’ve always loved stories! I think I’ve been trying to write them ever since I learned to hold a pencil. One of my very, very early attempts was a picture book called What If We Let All Gravity into Space?

As a child, I had this idea that gravity was some sort of gas that we could bottle up and jettison into outer space. I thought that if we just got rid of it, then all our problems would be solved. We could fly everywhere like Peter Pan, and wouldn’t that be amazing?! My imagination tended to run away with me, and I wrote some pretty silly stuff. But I always had fun doing it!

 

How much of Lavender is similar to you?

For me, fifth and sixth grade were tricky years. Social interactions change as kids start to become teenagers, and it can be very difficult to navigate friendships gracefully throughout this period of life. Like Lavender, I really struggled to figure out my place with my peers and to accept changing relationships as everyone around me started growing up.

 

For Teachers & Writers

How can teachers use this book in their classrooms? (And, teachers: this would be a great book when you are teaching the National Parks!)

There are so many different directions that a teacher could take this book in a classroom! With the novel’s unique setting, a classroom teacher could make tons of connections to social studies and geography.

Chiricahua National Monument is a sky island with incredible biodiversity. It lies at the intersection of four major ecosystems, and five distinct biomes. So, this book could also be a really useful staring point for discussions about climate, topography, and other earth science topics.

Teachers could also connect this novel to the physical sciences with discussion of radio waves, frequencies, and wavelengths. I personally love when teachers relate literature to mathematics or science, and I really hope Distress Signal offers some exciting opportunities to do so!

 

It is always fascinating to learn how a book got its shape. What would you say was the spark for Distress Signal? What came next? And what components organically fell into place later on?

Mary’s oldest niece with her ham radio.

Like so many stories, I think Distress Signal started as a combination of two ideas or events. In August 2017, my nine-year-old niece got her ham radio license, and I was incredibly proud of her. It’s a difficult test, and there seem to be far more men involved in the amateur radio community than women. I was so impressed that not only was the first female in our family to get licensed, but she passed the test at a fairly young age.

At the same time, there was terrible flooding in Texas and Louisiana due to Hurricane Harvey. With communication limited by the storm, rescue workers in some areas relied on assistance of ham radio operators to coordinate relief. These two ideas came together, and I remember thinking, I should write a story about a girl who uses ham radio to save her class from some kind of natural disaster.

 

Many people are often surprised how much research goes into writing fiction. What kind of research did you do? Were there any interesting things you learned that didn’t make it into the book?

As I researched for Distress Signal, I read news articles, watched YouTube videos, purchased survival guides, and took a trip to Chiricahua National Monument. Of course, I had been there multiple times before, but I wanted the setting as fresh in my mind as possible. I also interviewed several people, so I could ask really specific things related to certain scenes in the story.

I learned so many interesting things that didn’t really fit with this story! Lavender and her friends are not survival experts, so they do a lot of things wrong and it was frustrating sometimes to study what a person should actually do if lost in the wilderness and then write characters who were doing the exact opposite.

I also learned a little history of the area, and I was sad that nothing about the Native Americans from this region made it into the manuscript. Lastly, there were some really unique animal facts from this area that just weren’t a part of this story. For instance, did you know that jaguars actually lived in the Chiricahua Mountains? Who knew that they inhabited areas so far north? Or, if you’re into entomology, be sure to look up the vinegarroon (also, known as the whip spider). I had one of those in my manuscript at one point and they are really intriguing arachnids.

 

What ended up taking more time than you anticipated when researching/writing/revising?

For this manuscript, the revision definitely took more time than anticipated. I’ve lost count of how many versions this story has had! In it’s first iteration, the flash flood happened at the very end of the book. Now, it’s occurs near the start of the story.

 

How can we learn more about you? [website, social media, etc]

You can learn more about me at my website maryelambert.com. You can also pick up a copy of my first novel, Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes. My sister and I are very close friends, and since it’s a story about two sisters, it’s very near and dear to my heart. I think I actually have quite a bit more in common with Annabelle than I do with Lavender.

 

Author Mary E. Lambert

Mary E. Lambert will be giving a copy of Distress Signal to a lucky reader. Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a copy.

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*This giveaway is only available in the United States (please, no P.O. Boxes).

And the winner is…Danielle Hammelef! Congrats!

Mary E. Lambert is a middle school English teacher from Tempe, Arizona. In her free time, she is usually grading an endless pile of essays, but sometimes she puts down the red pen to write something of her own. She recently adopted a scruffy little mutt, and now whenever she tries to grade papers or type the next chapter of a novel, Ollie Duke is somewhere nearby…usually nipping at her ankles. 

Distress Signal is available here:

bookshop.org

amazon.com

 

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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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