The Kidlit Interview Series
Children's fiction encompasses some of the most imaginative, well-written books out there, so every Tuesday I shine a spotlight on it by interviewing a different middle-grade author. Come back regularly to find super-talented writers answering crucial questions like who they'd want riding alongside come the zombie apocalypse...
This week's honorary dragon is Sage Blackwood, who was born in Chicago and grew up in New York State. She graduated from Antioch College and the University at Albany, and taught ESL for many years. Her first fantasy novel, Jinx, was selected as a Best Book of 2013 by Kirkus, Booklist, School Library Journal, and Amazon. About her second fantasy, Jinx's Magic, Booklist said, “This series deserves a permanent place in the children's fantasy pantheon, with Narnia and Earthsea.” She tries not to let this go to her head.
The third and final book in the series, Jinx's Fire, is due out March 24, 2015 in the US and the UK & Commonwealth.
The third and final book in the series, Jinx's Fire, is due out March 24, 2015 in the US and the UK & Commonwealth.
THE HERE BE DRAGONS 8 KILLER QUESTIONS
1. Uh oh, it’s the zombie apocalypse. Which author (living or dead) do you want riding shotgun?
J.K. Rowling! If I'm going to die anyway, I might as well do it while discussing Harry Potter. Besides, it would be fun to pick her BRAAAAIIIINS.
2. Look, I got a time machine on eBay! Where do you want to go? (Said time machine may possibly malfunction and leave you there. Possibly. It was *very* cheap.)
Hm. I hope you kept the receipt. And... if it's not too much to ask... would you mind just taking it out for a little spin? Thanks! If you come back, I'd like to visit medieval England (after I get my plague vaccine), the prehistoric Bering land bridge, Colonial America, 19th century New York City, the earth before we got to work on it... well, actually, everywhen.
But if it's a one-way deal, I'll stay here, please. Miniver Cheevy I'm not. The past is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.
3. What’s your favourite thing about writing for kids?
That when people ask me, “So do your books have morals?” I get to cackle with glee and cry, “No, my books have no morals!”
Seriously, though, I don't think about writing for kids much. More than half the readers I hear from are adults. But I love hearing about kids reading my books. Sometimes people send me pictures of their kids reading Jinx, or even better, pictures the kids have drawn. I wanted to say something here about planting seeds in growing minds, and it would be true, but it's not as immediately thrilling as the pictures.
4. A witch has cast a spell on you (sorry about that) and you’ve woken up as a character in a children’s book – what’s your special talent or power?
I can flip ahead a few chapters, and see what's going to happen! If it's bad, I can take evasive action. If it's good, I'll quit worrying and just play along.
5. What’s the scariest or strangest thing you’ve ever done?
Moved to a traditional hunter-gatherer village on the Bering Sea Coast, 400 miles from the nearest road. I stayed four years. It was only the act of moving there that was scary, you understand. After that it was just home.
One day I was standing in the doorway of my cabin, coffee cup in hand, when a big military helicopter roared in and dropped off a couple people. I thought “Should I offer them some coffee?” But I didn't, of course. I think they were on some kind of Arctic survival training mission, so that would have been very insulting.
(After a few years, I moved a bit closer to civilization, to where I could see a Distant Early Warning System tower out my kitchen window. It was the same DEWS tower that once nearly triggered a nuclear war when it detected a flock of geese. Gazing at this thing every day caused me some reflection, largely on the word “Distant”.)
6. What’s something you wish you’d known about writing when you started out? What’s something you wish you’d known about publishing?
About writing, I wish someone had asked me this question: “Are you willing to work harder on this than you have ever worked in your life?”
About publishing: I wish I'd known that the people in publishing are just people! This hit me like a troll's fist when I went to meet my first editor in New York City. I was 45 minutes late because the bus got stuck in traffic. And she was waiting to meet me at a place near Central Park. I apologized profusely-- how could I, a lowly writer, ever be forgiven for keeping a great and mighty editor waiting? She didn't see it that way at all. No problem. She smiled and offered to carry my bag. She was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. She was a great editor. But she didn't live on the pedestal that writers tend to imagine.
7. What would your daemon be?
An owl.
8. My books don’t have dragons, but they do have... Werewolves! Cranky wizards, cackling witches. A sentient forest. An apprentice magician with an attitude problem.
My next-next book –the one after Jinx's Fire-- actually will have a dragon.
Tatum Flynn, thanks for interviewing me! And for having this blog where you call MG MG! I'm looking forward to reading your book...it looks terrific!
J.K. Rowling! If I'm going to die anyway, I might as well do it while discussing Harry Potter. Besides, it would be fun to pick her BRAAAAIIIINS.
2. Look, I got a time machine on eBay! Where do you want to go? (Said time machine may possibly malfunction and leave you there. Possibly. It was *very* cheap.)
Hm. I hope you kept the receipt. And... if it's not too much to ask... would you mind just taking it out for a little spin? Thanks! If you come back, I'd like to visit medieval England (after I get my plague vaccine), the prehistoric Bering land bridge, Colonial America, 19th century New York City, the earth before we got to work on it... well, actually, everywhen.
But if it's a one-way deal, I'll stay here, please. Miniver Cheevy I'm not. The past is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.
3. What’s your favourite thing about writing for kids?
That when people ask me, “So do your books have morals?” I get to cackle with glee and cry, “No, my books have no morals!”
Seriously, though, I don't think about writing for kids much. More than half the readers I hear from are adults. But I love hearing about kids reading my books. Sometimes people send me pictures of their kids reading Jinx, or even better, pictures the kids have drawn. I wanted to say something here about planting seeds in growing minds, and it would be true, but it's not as immediately thrilling as the pictures.
4. A witch has cast a spell on you (sorry about that) and you’ve woken up as a character in a children’s book – what’s your special talent or power?
I can flip ahead a few chapters, and see what's going to happen! If it's bad, I can take evasive action. If it's good, I'll quit worrying and just play along.
5. What’s the scariest or strangest thing you’ve ever done?
Moved to a traditional hunter-gatherer village on the Bering Sea Coast, 400 miles from the nearest road. I stayed four years. It was only the act of moving there that was scary, you understand. After that it was just home.
One day I was standing in the doorway of my cabin, coffee cup in hand, when a big military helicopter roared in and dropped off a couple people. I thought “Should I offer them some coffee?” But I didn't, of course. I think they were on some kind of Arctic survival training mission, so that would have been very insulting.
(After a few years, I moved a bit closer to civilization, to where I could see a Distant Early Warning System tower out my kitchen window. It was the same DEWS tower that once nearly triggered a nuclear war when it detected a flock of geese. Gazing at this thing every day caused me some reflection, largely on the word “Distant”.)
6. What’s something you wish you’d known about writing when you started out? What’s something you wish you’d known about publishing?
About writing, I wish someone had asked me this question: “Are you willing to work harder on this than you have ever worked in your life?”
About publishing: I wish I'd known that the people in publishing are just people! This hit me like a troll's fist when I went to meet my first editor in New York City. I was 45 minutes late because the bus got stuck in traffic. And she was waiting to meet me at a place near Central Park. I apologized profusely-- how could I, a lowly writer, ever be forgiven for keeping a great and mighty editor waiting? She didn't see it that way at all. No problem. She smiled and offered to carry my bag. She was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. She was a great editor. But she didn't live on the pedestal that writers tend to imagine.
7. What would your daemon be?
An owl.
8. My books don’t have dragons, but they do have... Werewolves! Cranky wizards, cackling witches. A sentient forest. An apprentice magician with an attitude problem.
My next-next book –the one after Jinx's Fire-- actually will have a dragon.
Tatum Flynn, thanks for interviewing me! And for having this blog where you call MG MG! I'm looking forward to reading your book...it looks terrific!
Thanks, Sage! Am so impressed with your amazing Bering Sea shenanigans that I'll let your MC off for having the same name as mine :) Jinxes unite! Find out more about Sage and her books on her website and chat to her on Twitter.
Come back next Tuesday for the Here Be Dragons interview with
Samantha Verant, author of King of the Mutants!
Samantha Verant, author of King of the Mutants!
