Exclusive Interview with Ross Welford, author of TIME TRAVELING WITH A HAMSTER -- and a Giveaway!

Time Traveling With a Hamster by Ross Welford (Schwartz & Wade, 2016)

(See my review in last week's post.)


Ross Welford, author of Time Traveling With a Hamster, kindly agreed to answer three questions for My Brain on Books.

Ross Welford, from his Twitter account

1) Your time travel rules make so much sense I actually believed time travel was possible. How did you come up with these rules? 

Thank you for noticing!  Time travel is - I discover - a nightmare to plot, so it’s nice to hear I got it right.  The main thing I had to invent was “Dad’s Law Of Doppelgängers” - the rule that states you can occupy a bit of space-time only once.  This came from necessity, really.  Let’s say you have a time-machine and, like Al, you go back in time and create a big disaster...  (I’m being careful with spoilers here: if you’ve read it you’ll know what I mean).  So what’s to stop you getting back into your time-machine, and travelling back in time again and putting it right?  I’d end up with a sort of time travelling Groundhog Day.   I did not want Al to be able to do that.  There was another thing in my mind as well, and that was Back To The Future.  I love those films, but I wanted to avoid too many similarities.  I’m especially thinking of the scene where Marty sees himself playing guitar at the school dance.  I did not want Al to meet himself.  (Why not?  Dunno, just didn’t.)  Out of that grew the doppelgänger ‘rule’ and once I’d worked it out, it actually kind of made sense!  Time travel is, obviously, a fantasy - but I think it’s quite a powerful fantasy, and it was fun to try to make it seem real, if only for the duration of the story.

2) This is your debut novel and I'm most impressed. Tell us briefly about your writing journey. Were there other (unpublished) books you wrote along the way? How did you find your agent?

About seven years ago I studied part-time for an MA in Screenwriting.  Until then I had written virtually no fiction ever.  Screenwriting’s a hard gig, though, and I did nothing with the MA I gained.  So in 2013, I started a story about a kid who finds a time portal in a cupboard at school.  Then I stopped at about 20,000 words, stuck on where to go next.  My local adult ed center was running a course based on NaNoWriMo, the writing club that hauls you through a 50,000 word draft in a month.  That was November.  After a couple more drafts, by spring 2014 it was the story we now have, more or less.  Different title, different ending, but still…

So, I knew that I had to start sending it out there, but I knew no one in publishing and sent out about four and then...  A friend at a party said that he happened to know someone who worked at the literary agency Peters, Fraser & Dunlop (I had never heard of them, knowing next to nothing about publishing). So I sent it off and waited, and waited, and waited….  And then things happened very quickly.  In December, I received a call from Silvia Molteni from PFD who took me on as a client straight away, and about three months later I had a two-book deal with Harper Collins, UK.  Shortly after that, it was sold to the US. (Schwartz & Wade, Penguin Random House).  A second book, What Not To Do If You Turn Invisible will be out in the UK early 2017.

Yay! 

(And an aside here to fellow writers:  I do realize that this is far from typical and that I have been very fortunate.  Sorry!)

3) You're right, Ross. That's far from typical! But congratulations! Now, could you briefly describe your writing space? Was it plastered with charts and timetables a la A Beautiful Mind while you were writing TIME TRAVELING WITH A HAMSTER? 

Early on, I did try plotting with yellow post-its arranged on a large glass door, and then I tried color-coding for when the action was in 1984!  It just got in the way though, and I found I didn’t need it. Quite a lot of Al’s adventures were unplanned - inasmuch as I didn’t know when I started writing the book that he would get into the scrapes he does.  Instead of post-it notes, there were lots of scribbled notes with arrows and crossings-out.  When I submitted the final draft, I was certain there were no errors in the timeline.  The editors found two - thankfully easily fixed.  Hurrah for copy editors!

They certainly did a great job. Thanks for stopping by, Ross. 

Giveaway details: The publisher has generously offered one hardcover copy for a giveaway. To enter, you must be a follower of this blog and you must comment on this post. If you mention this giveaway on social media, please let me know and I'll give you extra chances. This giveaway is open to U.S. mailing addresses only. Giveaway ends Sunday October 16th at 10 pm EDT and the winner will be announced on Monday October 17th. Good luck!

COUNTING THYME and Q&A with Melanie Conklin

Counting Thyme by Melanie Conklin (April 12, 2016, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, 320 pages, for ages 10 and up) 

Synopsis (from the publisher): When eleven-year-old Thyme Owens’ little brother, Val, is accepted into a new cancer drug trial, it’s just the second chance that he needs. But it also means the Owens family has to move to New York, thousands of miles away from Thyme’s best friend and everything she knows and loves.

Thyme loves her brother, and knows the trial could save his life—she’d give anything for him to be well—but she still wants to go home, although the guilt of not wanting to stay is agonizing. She finds herself even more mixed up when her heart feels the tug of new friends, a first crush, and even a crotchety neighbor and his sweet whistling bird. All Thyme can do is count the minutes, the hours, and days, and hope time can bring both a miracle for Val and a way back home.

Why I recommend it:  This is one of the clearest, strongest middle-grade voices I've read in years. You'll find yourself believing Thyme is a real 11-year-old girl telling you her story. Also, I've lived in Manhattan (in a third-floor walk-up) and the details about the city are spot-on. A sad but sweet and even humorous novel with a lot of heart and a lot of hope.

Melanie's website

I'm thrilled that author Melanie Conklin agreed to answer a few questions. Here's our Q&A:

Melanie Conklin, from the author's website

1) Tell us a little about neuroblastoma and especially why you decided to have a character with this form of cancer.

Neuroblastoma is a cancer that is primarily found in developing nervous tissue. It can manifest in many different areas, and children ages five and younger are most commonly affected. I first became acquainted with neuroblastoma in 2007, when a child in my Brooklyn neighborhood was diagnosed with the disease. I followed his family’s story closely through their blog, and ended up joining another local mom’s effort to raise funds for pediatric cancer research through baking and selling cookies—which became Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. Several years later, when I started writing, the stories of these families fighting cancer in such young children still resonated with me, in part because the treatments for the disease are very difficult to endure. When I decided to write a character who had a younger sibling facing an illness, neuroblastoma was the illness I wanted to portray.

2) My kids were on the Lighting and Sound crew in their school theater department, so I loved your scenes about figuring out how to make the sounds for The Wizard of Oz. Were you involved in theater yourself? If not, what kind of research did you so?

I’m glad you enjoyed those scenes! I was involved in theater on the periphery in both high school and college. While I never had the urge to perform, I really enjoyed working on the sets and painting backdrops, and once you’re back stage you end up exposed to the whole world of theater! Also, a friend of mine is a sound producer and foley artist, and I’d been acquainted with his work over the years, so between those two influences I had a feel for the scenes I wanted to create for Thyme’s school play. I researched children’s theater productions and watched quite a few performances on YouTube to fill in the gaps, and had a lot of fun inventing sounds, which in many ways related to my work as a product designer. Having worked with all kinds of materials to produce household goods, I have a feel for their various properties, which helped me mock up my ideas for different sounds to test out in our kitchen.

3) What are some of your favorite MG titles? And what's your favorite snack while reading them?

Ooh, snacks! I am a snacker. I prefer salty over sweet…so most often you’ll find me with a bag of bagel chips or some slices of cheese with olives. I don’t eat much while I read, though, because I love books in print and I’m still horrified at the idea of leaving a fingerprint on the page! Childhood habits die hard. I love the variety of titles in middle grade, and I love so many of them. One for the Murphys and When You Reach Me are two of my favorites. I also love verse novels, like Brown Girl Dreaming and Blue Birds. I’m reading Mayday right now, and the voice in it is amazing!

4) I love verse novels too. What's next for you? Will there be another novel about Thyme and her family? Or are you working on something new? Can you give us a hint?

Next up for me is another middle grade novel! I’m drafting the story right now, so it’s a very exciting time of discovery and surprises. It stars a whole new cast of characters, and I can tell you that it’s about family and friendship, and though it’s a very different world from the one in Counting Thyme, it’s also about finding your place in the world after life throws you a curveball. In many ways, this story is even more personal for me, and I can’t wait to share it one day soon!

And I can't wait to read it! Thank you for visiting, Melanie. Readers, have you read COUNTING THYME? What about any other MG novels about a sibling with cancer?

The Fourteen Fibs of Gregory K. for MMGM

The Fourteen Fibs of Gregory K. by Greg Pincus (ages 8 to 12, Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, Sept 2013)

Source: I won this book from Deb Marshall at Read Write Tell. She reads a lot of MG, so go visit her soon.


Synopsis (from the publisher): Gregory K. is the middle child in a family of mathematical geniuses. But if he claimed to love math? Well, he'd be fibbing. What he really wants most is to go to Author Camp. But to get his parents' permission he's going to have to pass his math class, which has a probability of 0. THAT much he can understand! To make matters worse, he's been playing fast and loose with the truth: "I LOVE math" he tells his parents. "I've entered a citywide math contest!" he tells his teacher. "We're going to author camp!" he tells his best friend, Kelly. And now, somehow, he's going to have to make good on his promises.

Hilariously it's the "Fibonacci Sequence" -- a famous mathematical formula! -- that comes to the rescue, inspiring Gregory to create a whole new form of poem: the Fib! Maybe Fibs will save the day, and help Gregory find his way back to the truth.


Why I recommend it: This is a perfect back-to-school read. If your kids are groaning because summer's almost over, give them this book. They'll get so involved in Gregory's predicament they might even forget school is coming.

Gregory is a likable and realistic character. Whether or not math is your strong suit, you'll enjoy this. I did well in math, right up until Geometry, and then I earned my first-ever D. So I empathized completely with Gregory.

You'll also love the Fibs, the poems Gregory writes. Six lines, based on the beginning of the Fibonacci sequence (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8). You may even be inspired to write one of your own! Give it a try. I've written eight of them since I read the book. First line is 1 syllable, second line is 1 syllable, third is 2 syllables, fourth is 3 syllables, fifth is 5 syllables, sixth is 8 syllables. No need for rhyme, but rhyme if you want to.



And now for a special treat, here's an exclusive interview with Greg Pincus.

From Greg's blog, GottaBook

1) First of all, welcome to My Brain on Books! The story of how The Fourteen Fibs of Gregory K. became a book is an unusual and fascinating one. I understand Arthur A. Levine spoke to you about it before you actually wrote it. Can you tell us briefly how the novel came to be?

The novel definitely came about in an unusual fashion. I'd met Arthur at my very first SCBWI conference and had been submitting picture book manuscripts to him. My cover letters and follow-up letters, however, seemed to get a much better reaction than many manuscripts - they were funny, somewhat snarky, and, in retrospect, better writing than the picture books. Arthur felt that I should be writing novels. I kept sending him short stuff. Then in April of 2006, my blog and I went viral and into the New York Times, all due to poetry based on the Fibonacci sequence. Arthur saw this as an opportunity to combine various things we both liked - the tone of my letters, Fibonacci poetry, my other poetry, and his desire to have me write novels. We came up with the very broad idea of The 14 Fibs of Gregory K. on a phone call - there was no manuscript when I got the deal back in 2006 - and over time, it morphed and changed and revised itself into the final book. 

2) You're not only a poet and a middle grade novelist, you're also a screenwriter. In what ways did screenwriting help you craft this novel?

I found that screenwriting helped in terms of writing individual scenes - keeping multiple things happening and ending them before they've gone too far, in particular. I actually found my screenwriting to be a bit of a problem in terms of not always filling in the visual details of a scene. I mean, heck, it's all gonna be there on the screen, right? Uh... no. 

3) Do you have a writing routine? Outline or pantser? Morning or evening? Coffee or tea (or chocolate)?

I am a combination of outliner/pantser in the sense that I always do have an outline, but in areas where there's not much detail, I'm fine winging it. I write when there's time, and always have, but love bigger chunks of contiguous hours, so if my schedule looks like I'll get that in the evening, I'm an evening writer, but if there's only free time in the morning, I'm a morning writer.  And coffee and chocolate, of course!

4) Do you still write Fibs? Can you share a favorite one with us?

I do write Fibs as a kind of warm up session for myself (which is how I initially used them). The focused form truly helps me focus on word choice and the like. And I still find it VERY hard to come up with good ones. Still, one of my favorites remains A Beach Fib, posted over at my blog - http://gottabook.blogspot.com/2006/07/beach-fib.html. 

5) I LOVE A Beach Fib! Thanks so much for sharing. Greg, you're one of the founders of #kidlitchat. What would you like to tell my readers about it?

Even after five years on Twitter (a social media eon!), #kidlitchat is still going strong every Tuesday night at 9 PMEastern/6 PM Pacific. It's a fun, low-key way to hang out with some fellow children's literature lovers, get inspiration and resources, and make friends. Plus, when it really gets going, it can teach you just how fast you can read!

6) Please satisfy my curiosity: did you name your character after yourself? Is he you as a kid?

I had been writing a lot of individual poems, and many of them came out in the voice of the same kid. I had been writing the poems as "Gregory K." rather than Greg Pincus (or really, rather than Gregory K. Pincus which is what I'd been writing screenplays as). When Arthur and I discussed the book initially, we decided that the "poem voice kid" had a good perspective and the novel was going to be about a kid who wrote poetry. Then Arthur came up with The 14 Fibs of Gregory K. as a title (perhaps the only thing that remained from the first conversation to the final book!), and who could argue with that? He is definitely not me as a kid, nor is the book autobiographical!

Here's a post from Greg's blog, Gotta Book, about Fibs.
Find Greg on Twitter


Be creative, readers! Write a Fib and share it with us. Leave it in the comments (unless you're shy).

Here's one of mine:

Wet
leaf.
Spider
balances
between the raindrops.
Nature's tiniest acrobat.



For other MMGM recommendations, visit Shannon Messenger's blog.

Screaming at the Ump by Audrey Vernick for MMGM, plus An Interview!

Screaming at the Ump by Audrey Vernick (ages 9 to 13, Clarion Books, March 2014)

Source: I won this book from Rosi Hollinbeck, who blogs at The Write Stuff. Go visit! She has a lot of cool stuff on there.

Synopsis (from Indiebound): Twelve-year-old Casey Snowden knows everything about being an umpire. His dad and grandfather run a New Jersey umpire school, Behind the Plate, and Casey lives and breathes baseball. Casey's dream, however, is to be a reporter--objective, impartial, and fair, just like an ump. 

But when he stumbles upon a sensational story involving a former major league player in exile, he finds that the ethics of publishing it are cloudy at best. This emotionally charged coming-of-age novel about baseball, divorce, friendship, love, and compassion challenges its readers to consider all the angles before calling that strike.

Why I recommend it:  Well, yes, I grew up with baseball. Some of my earliest memories include chasing fireflies around my backyard while my parents listened to the Phillies game on the radio. As a teen, I went to a lot of home games and knew all the players and their stats. 

Surprisingly, though, I'm not much of a baseball fan now. Yet I still loved this book. Whether or not you love baseball, you'll enjoy reading Screaming At The Ump, especially for Casey's authentic voice and the wackiness of his best friend, Zeke. 

The title gets my vote for Best Title So Far This Year. There's a lot of humor here, not just boy humor. But then the book goes deeper, which is what I love most about it. Vernick deftly handles not only Casey's feelings about his parents' divorce, but about the former major league player who shows up at Behind the Plate under a different name. Casey's struggle over doing what's right will resonate with the reader. This is one of those books you'll think about long after you've turned the last page.



And now for a special treat: an interview with Audrey Vernick!

Audrey Vernick, from her website

1) I know you're a baseball fan and have also written some nonfiction picture books about baseball (Brothers at Bat; She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story). What made you decide to write a novel about umpire school?

Long before there was instant replay in baseball, probably about seven years ago, there was one postseason in which the umpires got a lot of important calls wrong, calls that changed the outcome of games. Talk radio was buzzing with it. It made me wonder how umpires became major-league umpires. A little quick research revealed that they have to go to umpire school--there are two in Florida and all major league umpires started there. (Who knew?) I found it really intriguing, the mere fact that umpire schools exist.

Combine that fact with this:  I have a tendency to write too "quiet," to like character-driven work, which editors point out makes it hard for a title to stand out on their list. Knowing this about my writing self, I thought using an unusual setting might be enough to allow for a less-than-shocking-at-every-turn kind of plot. I don't enjoy reading plot-driven fiction, and I don't think I could even write it if I wanted to. Writing a book that takes place in an umpire school felt like it would give me a chance to write the kind of book I enjoy writing that might be publishable.

2) Well, you certainly hit it out of the ballpark with this one, Audrey. Could you tell us a little about your journey to becoming a published author? Did you start out writing picture books? If so, how difficult was the transition to middle grade novels?

Before I wrote for kids, I wrote literary short fiction. I published about a dozen stories in literary journals and magazines. I lived through the skin-hardening years of rejection then, for the most part. I switched to writing for children over a decade ago and the first book I wrote, Bark and Tim: A True Story of Friendship, was co-written with my sister Ellen Gidaro. It was an odd book, in that the illustrations kind of had to be the paintings of the artist Tim Brown, whom the book was about, so there we were--submitting a book complete with illustrations, the exact-wrong way to begin. It took a very long time to find a publisher--a small regional press in Tennessee. That book was published in 2003. My next book for children came out in 2010. I point to those seven years as my real learning curve.

There came a point where I wanted an agent to handle the submission side of things. There were so many fewer agents then than there are now, and the common thinking was that one needed to catch an agent's attention with a novel. Also, as the graduate of an mfa writing program, I always knew I'd have to write a novel SOME day. So I wrote my first one, Water Balloon. It was called Dandelion Summer then. It was hard. And I think writing novels is so hard. I remember the very tentative steps I took in the beginning, writing a chapter or two and needing to send it to a reader-friend right away, asking, "Is this how you do it?" The hard part, of course, is to keep doing it. When I had a finished, revised draft I found an agent and she submitted it widely and failed to sell it. It wasn't until many years later, working with my current (second) agent, that I decided to pull it out of the drawer and give it another try. I revised with an eye toward making it less quiet--not a lot less quiet, but enough. And I was lucky that the book found its meant-to-be editor, Jennifer Greene, at Clarion.

I find the process of writing picture books comes naturally to me. I have to work much harder on novels.

3) Oh, I agree. Writing novels IS hard! I'd love to hear about your writing process. Do you outline the entire novel before you write or are you a pantser? Or a little of both? Do you write every day?

Oh heavens, I have no real process. Over the years, I've learned to trust that when it's time to write, I'll write. (This could be classified, accurately, as deciding that it's okay to be undisciplined and possibly a little lazy). I do not outline, but I do like to have some idea about how my story will end, so I have a direction to write in/toward. I do not write every day. I go through patches when I work a lot--usually on several different projects. And when drafting novels, I usually have several 8,000-10,000 word days--awful words, to be clear, but words, to move me along, otherwise I'd never be able to do it. When I'm somewhere between halfway and two-thirds done, I usually try to come up with a list of scenes that will get me to the finish line. And I don't always write those in order.

My advice is to not conduct one's writing life the way I conduct mine.

4) I think you're doing just fine, Audrey. Everyone's writing process is different. Please tell us: what three MG authors have influenced you the most?

Three. Hm. Maybe I can do this. I can never pick a single favorite anything, but three?

My mom, Judy Glassman, wrote a wonderful middle grade novel, The Morning Glory War, which was accepted for publication a few months before she died (a sudden, unexpected death).
Lynne Rae Perkins wrote the book I wish I wrote in All Alone in the Universe.
Louise Fitzhugh, because I've probably reread Harriet the Spy more than any other book.

5) I’m so sorry to hear that about your mom, but how wonderful that you have her book. And I totally agree about Louise Fitzhugh! Now I'd better read All Alone in the Universe. For my final question: if you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Because one has to factor in how close one's family and friends would be, I think I'm pretty content to stay right here. A little over an hour outside of NYC (without traffic, as in, in a world that doesn't exist), very short drive to the beach, short drive to family.

Lucky you! Thanks so much for being here, Audrey!

Audrey's website

Find Audrey on Twitter

For other MMGM recommendations, see the links on Shannon's blog.

 

Part Two of my interview with Dianne Salerni, author of THE EIGHTH DAY -- and a Giveaway!

We're back with Part Two of my interview with Dianne Salerni, author of The Eighth Day, coming from HarperCollins in April.

You teach full time, have family obligations, keep up with your blog twice a week, AND you're very generous with advice and beta reading for less experienced writers, like me (thank you!). When do you find time to WRITE?

I write whenever I’m not teaching. Ask my family. They’ll tell you I’m attached to my laptop, that I can be obsessive, and it’s sometimes hard to get my full attention!

I do most of my blog reading and commenting in the mornings over coffee. I will write in the late afternoons, evenings, and weekends. What I’m writing impacts when I do it. I can revise already-written words at any time of day, but new words come most easily late in the evening.

So, if I’m facing the first draft of a new chapter, I will probably work on blog-related stuff or beta-reading in the afternoons and early evening (and promotional things like this interview!) and wait for the Muse to show up around 9 pm!

You are repped by Sara Crowe of the Harvey Klinger Agency. Can you briefly fill us in on how you got your agent?

I signed my first contract un-agented and quickly realized I didn’t know what I was doing. I started looking for an agent shortly before We Hear the Dead was published, but it took months to land with Sara. I had plenty of outright rejections and two full Revise & Resubmits that ended in “passes” during that time. As disheartening as those R & R rejections were, I credit them for helping me produce a manuscript that was worth reading before I queried Sara.

Your first two novels, We Hear the Dead and The Caged Graves, were YA. How different did it feel to write MG?

The manuscript I called “Grunsday” started out as YA too! It was my agent Sara who recommended that I revise it for MG, and as soon as she did, I saw the potential in that change. Writing the MG voice was a lot of fun for me. Maybe that’s because I’m around kids all day.

The one thing I miss from YA is romance. But Jax has a couple of YA friends with an understated romance going on, so I get to play around with it a little. Jax knows the romance is brewing, and he’s rooting for them, but he doesn’t want to know the details!  Eww.

Ha! That's great. The Eighth Day will be a series. Can you give us any hints about Book 2?

Well, Jax Aubrey is an orphan, living with 18 year old Riley Pendare, who was named as his guardian by Jax’s dad before he died. But there are a lot of things Rayne Aubrey lied about – and a very specific reason he chose Riley as Jax’s protector.

Turns out, Jax has relatives, and they want him back. And when Jax finds out who they are, his world is turned upside-down and backwards.

Oh, cool! What a great hint. Now I can’t wait for book two! Thanks so much, Dianne.

*   *   *   *   *

And now, readers, I have a two-part giveaway. 

First, I'm giving away my ARC of The Eighth Day to one lucky winner I will choose at random.

Second, I will give away a pre-ordered, SIGNED hardcover copy of THE EIGHTH DAY to another lucky winner, also chosen at random. I will get it signed at Dianne's book launch in April.

All you need to do to enter this giveaway is be a follower and comment on this post. If you tweet about it or mention on facebook, let me know and I'll give you extra chances. I would give you an extra day, but that only happens in this book! International entries welcome. This giveaway ends at 10pm EST on Sunday March 9 and the winners will be announced on Monday March 10. 

Part One of my interview with Dianne Salerni, author of THE EIGHTH DAY

Coming soon! 

The Eighth Day by Dianne K. Salerni (April 22, 2014, HarperCollins, for ages 9 to 13)

Source: ARC courtesy of the author 

Synopsis (from Dianne's website): In this riveting fantasy adventure, thirteen-year-old Jax Aubrey discovers a secret eighth day with roots tracing back to Arthurian legend. Fans of Percy Jackson will devour this first book in a new series that combines exciting magic and pulse-pounding suspense.

When Jax wakes up to a world without any people in it, he assumes it's the zombie apocalypse. But when he runs into his eighteen-year-old guardian, Riley Pendare, he learns that he's really in the eighth day—an extra day sandwiched between Wednesday and Thursday. Some people—like Jax and Riley—are Transitioners, able to live in all eight days, while others, including Evangeline, the elusive teenage girl who's been hiding in the house next door, exist only on this special day.

Why I loved it: Are you kidding? It's got everything! The most exciting premise ever. Action, adventure, fantasy, Arthurian legends, and both boy-appeal and girl-appeal. Plus it's fast-paced and grabs you right from the start. Bonus: it will be a series. 

And now for Part One of my interview with Dianne Salerni, Pennsylvania resident and the author of The Eighth Day:

Welcome to the blog, Dianne!  Even before I read The Eighth Day, I loved the premise. Can you tell us how you came up with the idea of an extra day between Wednesday and Thursday?

Thanks for having me here, Joanne! The idea came out of a family joke. My daughters would ask when they would get to do something, and my husband would respond, “Grunsday. We’ll do that on Grunsday.” One day, I said, “What if there really was a Grunsday in the middle of the week, but not everybody knew about it?”

The premise of a secret day hung around for a long time without a plot to go with it, although my family never let me forget the idea. It took maybe 18 months from the original inspiration to get a sense of what the story would be about. Even then, I pantstered the whole first draft. It ended up as a 98,000 word monstrosity that needed major taming and focusing and word slashing in the second draft.

Wow! That’s a lot of words. Good for you for taming that monster. Jax is a great character, so real and so likable. And I love his name, which is short for Jaxon. Do you choose names for their meanings or because they seem to fit the character?

I don’t choose the names, really. The characters choose them. They tell me what they want to be called. Jax, for instance, told me his name even before I had the plot nailed down.

I told him he couldn't have the name Jax. What kind of name was that for a boy? I wanted to set this story in contemporary America, and who names their kid Jax? I threw different names at him; he rejected them all. In the end, I did a little internet searching and discovered Jaxon as an alternative spelling for Jackson. So I let him have his name.

Since then, I’ve come across the name Jax, for a boy, twice on the internet. (So I guess people really do name their kid that! I grew to like it more and more as I used it.)

I love the way you incorporated Arthurian legends. Tell us a little about your research and how extensive it was. Did you do most of it on the internet or in the library?

First of all, I never intended to incorporate Arthurian legends into this story. That developed in the rambly first draft when I stumbled across stories about Merlin being imprisoned by his apprentice Niviane in “an eternal forest.” The description of where Merlin was trapped had some eerie similarities to the way I was describing Grunsday, or “the eighth day” in my draft.  Once the idea took hold, it wouldn’t let go.

I did most of my research over the internet. However when my family started planning a vacation in the U.K. this past summer, my husband hired a private tour guide to spend one day taking us to Arthur-related sites around Cardiff, Wales. (Our original reason for visiting Cardiff was to see the Doctor Who Museum. An Arthur-related tour was a happy bonus!)

Tune in next Monday for Part Two and the Giveaway!