We are thrilled that middle-grade Author James Ponti took time away from his writing, researching, and traveling to join us. His newest book, The Sherlock Society, was just released yesterday and is certain to be a hit with young sleuths. Welcome to From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors, James! We are honored to have you with us to talk about The Sherlock Society.
In the first chapter, we are introduced to this unlikely cast, including Alex Sherlock, his sister, Zoe, their grandfather, and their
two friends, Lina and Yadi. All five of them are caught up in a scheme that leads to an exploding boat,
a rescue by a Miami Patrol Boat, and being detained by Special Agents. The fast-paced mystery never
lets up pace through the story. How did you come up with this cast and the exciting mystery?
I knew I wanted to come up with a new series, so I went out for a walk and decided to try an
experiment. There’s a lake near my house with benches all around it. As I walked around the lake, I sat
at each bench and asked myself a question. The rules were that I couldn’t get up until I had a good
answer and that each question had to be harder than the last. I started with basics like what type of
book I wanted to write (mystery) and where I wanted to set it (my home state of Florida). This
progressed for a dozen or so benches and I was on my second lap when I asked, “How do these siblings
come to be involved with solving mysteries?” That’s the key. How do you kickstart the plot? My answer
was a paragraph. “If our last name was Baker, we would’ve sold cupcakes. If it was Walker, we would’ve
taken care of people’s dogs while they were on vacation. But it’s Sherlock, so starting a detective agency
just seemed like the thing to do.” That was the point when I knew what I wanted to write. And
amazingly, it became the opening paragraph of the book.
The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories and The Hardy Boys, created by Edward Stratemeyer, featured
young, adventuresome detectives. Did these series inspire you?
My brothers read the Hardy Boys, but I was all about Encyclopedia Brown. I wasn’t a strong reader and I
loved the fact that in each book Encyclopedia solved a series of short mysteries rather than one really
long one. That said, the book that truly launched my lifelong love of mysteries is the same one that gave
this website its name, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. When I do school visits I
jokingly tell kids it’s the thirteenth greatest book ever written. I pause for a moment before adding,
“because I’ve only written twelve.”
The Sherlock Society initially consists of Alex, Lina and Yadi, yet you cleverly draw in the character of
Alex’s sister, Zoe. Tell us about your characters and the importance of the sibling dynamic.
I think for most middle schoolers, life is dominated by family, school, and friends; so, I wanted all three
to be the central ingredients of the book. The team is made up of Alex’s two best (and really only)
friends, his sister (with whom he has a typical tween love-hate relationship), and his grandfather. I really
wanted a strong sibling dynamic, but also a multi-generational one with Grandpa. As for the siblings,
they very go with the theory that “I can say anything I want about the other, but no one else can talk
about them without facing my wrath.”
You pay tribute to a number of classic books written for middle-grade readers in the library scene.
(Including our inspiration, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler). Were these titles
favorites of yours?
I love to namedrop personal kid lit favorites in my books. It’s like winking at the reader and saying, “I bet
we love a lot of the same things.” In this book, there are two chapters involving an escape room in the
school library. This lets me mention some all-time personal favorites.
I loved that Alex and Zoe’s parents serve supporting roles in The Sherlock Society. As parents are often
absent in stories for younger readers, why did you feel it important to feature their parents in the
story?
In real life, I never knew my father and had absolutely no connection with him. As a result, the dynamic
of a missing parent was key to my first three series – Dead City, Framed, and City Spies. I think many
people assumed I was just doing this as a plot device, but it really was a way for me to address and
explore some profoundly personal issues. That said, with The Sherlock Society, I decided to write about a
family not like the one I grew up in, but like the one in which my wife and I raised our children. It’s been
an interesting change of dynamics for me.
Without a spoiler alert, the story shifts about halfway through, as the team of detectives begin to
pursue solving a mystery other than the one they intended to, and for entirely different reasons. Tell
us about this plot twist.
I think there is a tendency in many of my books for the mystery to evolve and pivot mid-course. I like
doing that because it’s then not a mystery that’s thrust upon our characters but one that is uncovered
by them. That makes them more proactive and connected to the eventual solution. If done right, it also
raises the stakes, which is always good. In The Sherlock Society, the team starts off looking into an old
cold case involving Al Capone, which is fun and exciting, but they discover a current one that is affecting
the world right now that they can remedy. It goes from being an activity to a mission.
I’ve learned through my research of the creators and writers of The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, that
creating cliffhangers at the end of chapters will hook and keep the reader engaged. You’ve
mastered this technique in spades! Does this come naturally to you as a writer?
My career started as a television scriptwriter for Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and PBS. Television
format is built on the idea of a cliffhanger at the end of each act. I think after years of doing it, it just
became second nature. Also, like I said, I wasn’t a strong reader and I loved it when the story would
compel me to keep going on. I get jazzed when parents and teachers tell me their kids get upset when
they have to stop reading for the night or the class because the cliffhanger leaves them wanting more.
Equally important to cliffhangers, but almost never talked about, are chapter openings. In the same way,
they need to be a springboard that propels the reader. I once read an interview with Garry Trudeau, the
author of the Doonesbury comics. He talked about how difficult it was to write and compose the first
panel of the comic strip, because it has to grab the reader, recap the story, and start the new story all
with a single image and a few words. I think about that a lot when I start each chapter. Probably more
than half of the time I spend writing is specifically spent on the first page and a half of the chapters.
This story is based in Miami, Florida. Your other works are based in Washington, D.C., Manhattan, and
around the world. Do you visit your story locales as part of your research?
I try to visit them as often as I can. I did research trips to New York (Dead City) and Washington (Framed)
all the time. I also try to visit the international locales from City Spies, but those are usually one offs
because of time and expense. After I wrote the first draft of Sherlock Society, I went to Miami and spent
an intensive three days visiting every single location from the book. The book starts with a rescue with
the Miami Police Department’s Marine Patrol, so I went for a ride-along with them. Alex and Zoe’s
father is a marine biologist at the University of Miami, so I hung out with a marine biologist at the
University of Miami. I even visited fictional places from the book. I reached out to a realtor and told her
about the kids, their family income, and history, and she helped me find likely houses and apartments
where they might live.
Here’s a little fun fact about setting. At Nickelodeon we kind of had a rule that each show had to have a
character who was at least sixteen years old so that in theory, that character could drive everyone
around. One of the biggest challenges in writing a kids’ adventure book is handling the logistics of how
the characters get around. That said, you can’t have 16-year-old characters in a middle-grade book
without turning it into Young Adult. That was part of why my first two series were set in New York and
Washington. Both have really good subway systems that kids can ride on their own. But there is not
good mass transit in Miami, and that was a problem. And that problem led to the inclusion of Grandpa
on the team, which I love. It’s amazing how often the problems turn into highlights.
A variety of subtle lessons are offered throughout The Sherlock Society, i.e. importance of respect of
authority and elders, surrounding oneself with good people, and doing the right thing. How important
is it to you as a writer and a father to impart these messages in your stories?
I do not want to preach, teach, or send a message. Young readers see right through this and it turns
them off. I want to write engaging stories with humor, adventure, and family. But I think young readers
are interested in real-world issues and problems, so I include them and try to present them in a way that
is accurate and interesting. I also want to write characters who model good traits and methodology. If
readers take that and run with it, I’m thrilled. But the story always has to come first.
Our audience, both younger readers and those who support them, often want to know about an
author’s writing process. How do you create your exciting tales?
I wish I had a better answer for this. My process is…messy. I write every day – weekends included – and
try to start early in the morning. I can really only get good writing done in my home office, which is set
aside for that one thing. (I find a dedicated writing location is essential.) My writing tends to go in fits
and starts through the first third of the manuscript before it picks up. I don’t outline, but I try to figure
out big picture elements up front and then outline a few chapters at a time. I write those chapters,
rewrite them, rewrite them again, and then outline the next few chapters. My wife is a great reader and
she reads each chapter as I go. I trust her instincts and know that things are going okay if she says they
are. During the last few weeks of the process, I tend to write virtually around the clock with breaks for
meals and streaming a couple of shows – usually mysteries – with my amazing wife Denise.
And finally, can we expect any further adventures featuring The Sherlock Society?
I’m currently writing Sherlock Society 2 and really love the series and the characters. I hope there will be
many more in the future, but that will all depend on how much readers enjoy the first two books.
Is there anything else you care to share with our readers?
I am thrilled to be writing The Sherlock Society, but no less excited about writing City Spies,
which is very much going full steam ahead. I have finished book six and have already signed to
write at least two more after that. It’s great for me to switch back and forth between the two
series, but I do wish there were eighteen months in a year, so I had a little more time to write each. LOL!
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