Q: Tell us about your book, specifically the story behind the
title.
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A: The Unicorn Quest trilogy is about two sisters—one brave, and
one not-so-brave—who discover another world when they climb up a ladder in
the fireplace of their great-aunt’s manor. In this world, magic is done
through art and tension is rising between the four guilds of magic—a tension
that can only be stopped by the return of the unicorns.
In Book 2, the sisters—Sophie and Claire—have arrived at
Stonehaven, the capital of the guild who can release the magic from stone.
This guild can carve an army of stone statues that can crush the bones of
your enemies or craft glass spectacles that can allow you to see miles and
miles away. And so the secret in the stone refers to the many qualities found
in rock, but it is also a nod to the many great and dangerous secrets that
some of the characters are keeping. . .and when those secrets are discovered,
they will change Sophie and Claire’s lives forever.
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Q; How do you make it where you think one thing is going to
happen in the story and then another occurs;
yet it still makes sense? (This craft is amazing!)
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A; Before I set out to write a story, I always think about what
each every single character wants
in life. What is X Character’s ultimate goal? Is it finding a sister? Living
life to the fullest? Taking over the world? And when I’m determining what
characters want, I get a little mean. I purposefully seek out character that
want the opposite of another character’s goals or at least, their want is
going to make it harder for the other character. And out of this tension, you
have a lot character keeping secrets, and so then the twists and turns in the
plot feel organic to the story, but are still surprising because—like with
real people—you don’t know their entire life story. And it’s that discovery
that keeps things interesting!
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Q; What are some challenges unique to writing fantasy?
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A; The biggest challenge about fantasy is that anything can happen. Literally. If you
want the sky to be purple, it can be purple. If you want everyone to have
wings, everyone can have wings. So the challenge is to sift through all those
fun possibilities and streamline them down into one cohesive—and
coherent!—story. And you have to streamline! All tales begin with some sort
of problem and the story is the steps taken to fix that problem. So if you
have a world where magic can do everything, then it’s almost impossible to
have a plot because the solution is so easy. Making up your own rules and
sticking to them is what makes fantasy so fun!
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Q; What makes this book a perfect fit for middle grade
classrooms?
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A: There’s a lot of layers to it – just like a middle grader!
There’s the top layer with unicorns and magic, wish fulfillment and epic
danger. But then underneath all the fantasy, The Unicorn Quest trilogy is
really a story about two sisters from our world, who are dealing with growing
up and apartIt’s a story about how change can be good and how it can be bad,
and how one can find the bravery face it or accept it.
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Q: What’s the best thing about being a writer?
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A; You can find kindred spirits more easily! As a reader,
sometimes I’ve read a sentence that makes me say, “Yes! That’s exactly how I
feel! I didn’t know anyone else felt the same way as me.” And then I feel a
little less alone.
And so to be on the writer side of it, to craft a sentence that
makes another person feel seen and heard and felt, has been an unexpected
joyful side-effect of becoming a published author. By putting my heart on
paper for others to see, I’ve been able to make new friends in unexpected
places.
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Q: How do you get started on your writing, and what advice
would you give to middle grade students who are writing?
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A; Funnily enough, I never wanted to be a writer – I always
wanted to be an editor! And that’s because I was convinced I didn’t have good
enough ideas to stick with something all the way through. But then I became a
children’s book editor, and I saw up close and personal how books don’t come
out as shiny finished projects—they come out page by page, sentence by
sentence, word by messy word. By watching other people write, the process
became less mysterious, and I realized that maybe I could give it a try, too.
My advice to middle schoolers is two-fold. 1) Be brave! It’s not easy for the
professionals to face the blank page, but all it takes is that initial
sentence to get you moving somewhere. 2)Read! Read everything and anything,
and you’re already 2/3 of the way there to being a fantastic writer. The
other third is being brave, of course.
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Q: What else would you like us to know?
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A: I’ve known the ending of the series for a long time, and I’m
so excited that in book two, Secret in
the Stone, readers are able to start seeing my overall masterplan! In addition to The Unicorn Quest, I’ve also
been hard at work on another book with some very familiar and beloved
characters: Anna and Elsa of Arendelle! I’ve been working with Disney on a
middle grade book that bridges the events of FROZEN and FROZEN II. I still
can’t say much, only that it’s a dream come true.
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