I’m delighted to be sharing my fourth (count them – four!!) interview with YA author extraordinaire, Mindy McGinnis, on her FOURTH novel today. She’s one of the most exciting and eclectic YA writers out there, and she also loves cats! When I asked her about her recently released YA novel, THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES, here’s what she had to say ...
KC: THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES is a very different book for you, although your novels to date have been somewhat eclectic in terms of genre (dystopian, historical fiction/horror, and now teen vigilante justice). In your author notes you say that you'd actually written a draft of this book 15 years ago and decided to dust it off now. What was the original inspiration for the book, what prompted you to dust it off now, and what were the main things that changed between the original version and the final published version?
MM: I was in college when I ran into the inspiration for SPECIES. I never had cable television growing up, so my freshman year in a dorm I was suddenly mainlining all kinds of things, but especially true crime. I watched a mini-doc about a girl who had been raped and murdered in a small town, but there wasn't enough evidence to convict. Even so, everyone knew who did it. I was watching this becoming more incensed, and realized, that if I were capable of it, I could easily find this town, find that mine, and take care of things myself. Then I thought it was probably time to turn off the TV.
KC: If I'm remembering correctly, this is the first book you've written from multiple/alternating points of view. Did you find writing the alternating characters' viewpoints challenging or freeing, or a little of both?
MM: It was my first time for alternating POV's, although I was also drafting a fantasy (GIVEN TO THE SEA) at the same time, which has four alternating POV's, two male and two female. Even so, SPECIES came first, and more importantly than being my first POV dive, it was my first time writing a male MC, first person. So that was something I wanted to make sure I got right. I had various male readers and critique partners, so that I would know I was in the head of a teen boy, both for the good and the bad.
KC: This is also your first contemporary YA - your previous books have been set respectively in the future and the past. How did you find the worldbuilding aspects of creating a contemporary township for this book versus a dystopia (in your NOT A DROP TO DRINK duology) and a historically accurate past (in A MADNESS SO DISCREET)?
MM: Ha - this one was a breeze in that respect! I've worked in a high school for 15 years, so I know the voice, I know the small town environment, and I know the narrators. Once when I was writing MADNESS I had to stop and do 15 minutes of research just to figure out what policemen were called in 1890 Boston. Here... so much easier!
KC: One thing that has stayed with me very viscerally since reading the book is your depiction of the scene where the cop speaks at the high school assembly about drug and alcohol abuse and does so in a very different way to what the students (and probably readers) were expecting. What was the inspiration for Officer Nolan's character and how did you come up with his approach to educating teens about alcohol and drugs?
MM: We had a task force come into the school to educate the staff about different drugs, their uses / effects and paraphernalia. The guy was amazing, because he made everything personal. But he also talked to us like adults (which we were), and I couldn't help but think, Geez, I wish he could come in and talk to the kids like that. Whenever there's an assembly that is about safety - drugs, alcohol, sex, whatever - it's typically condescending and very antiseptic. They kids are bored and it has no impact. So I wrote what I thought would actually work.
KC: Do you have a plan for your next book that you can share with us?
MM: I do! My first fantasy, titled GIVEN TO THE SEA will be releasing from Penguin/Putnam on April 11, 2017. It is the first in a duology. I also have another contemporary coming from Harper in the Fall of 2017, titled THIS DARKNESS MINE.
Chatting with Mindy McGinnis
Teen Board Member Bryn D. recently attended the Books by the Banks festival in Cincinnati, Ohio. This regional book festival is coming up on its 10th anniversary next year and is host to over a hundred authors for different events. It sure sounds like booknerd heaven! Bryn had the chance to sit down with Mindy McGinnis, author of NOT A DROP TO DRINK and most recently THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES. Find out about her upcoming releases and the books that inspired her to write in this post.
In the midst of a bustling conference room at the Books by the Banks festival in Cincinnati, Ohio this past Saturday, a mystery perpetrator spilled Mindy McGinnis’s water all over her signing table while she was off talking with excited readers during a “V.I.P. visit.” Upon seeing this crime at her table, Mindy managed to have an entire interview with me while waving the white tablecloth up and down to dry it, a measure of her professionalism and calm-under-pressure attitude. And when the organizers brought her a broken down cardboard box to sign her books on, Mindy managed to make it look like that was how she had always wanted to sign her books. By the end of the interview, I forgot it was there, or that the spill had even occurred. Mindy proved to be a master storyteller, even when she was just answering my questions, just like her favorite childhood author: Stephen King.
Don’t worry, she wasn’t that young to be reading Stephen King. Mindy and I both agreed that 6th grade is not that early to begin reading about creepy clowns and psychotic hotel caretakers. She had to read Stephen King because when she was younger, they did not have the type of YA novels we have today. This early love of Stephen King even gave her the “freedom” to write the dark books she currently creates. “There was very little strong Middle Grade/YA...it was like ‘I have a puppy and I love my puppy’...and I don’t write ‘I have a puppy and I love my puppy.’” From reading Stephen King, she liked seeing that it was “okay and even successful to write dark [novels].” Staying with the dark and twisted novel theme, Mindy is currently reading BLOOD FOR BLOOD by Ryan Graudin, a book that I cannot wait to get my hands on. BLOOD FOR BLOOD just came out a couple weeks ago, but there was another release, during her college years, that made a huge impact on Mindy and her writing.
The inspiration for THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES came from a documentary Mindy watched 17 years ago. The documentary was about a girl who had been raped, murdered, and left to rot in the woods. The rape and murder happened in a really small town, though, so everyone knew who did it, and they could not do anything about it. Mindy thought, “if I were not a [mentally] healthy person...they said the name of the town...they said the name of the guy...I could go kill him.” Then she thought, “Huh. Interesting idea.” Thus, the basis for THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES was born. THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES was actually the first novel she ever wrote, her first published novel NOT A DROP TO DRINK, being the fifth. Although, Mindy says her original draft of THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES is only similar to the current published copy in the character names and title name. Now, THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES is her fourth published novel so far, with the fifth and sixth coming next year.
GIVEN TO THE SEA, coming out in April 2017, is a fantasy novel about five characters caught between land and sea with politics, love, and a little war thrown in. The inspiration for it came from a movie McGinnis watched in the eighties called Ivanhoe (1982). A particular scene where a prince came to rescue a princess in a tower caught her eye. The princess thought the prince was coming to assault her, so she ran to the window and threatened to jump if he touched her. Even at six years old, McGinnis could tell this princess was a kickbutt character. This movie, coupled with the concept of genetic memory and wondering “What if sea levels never stopped rising?”, led to the creation of GIVEN TO THE SEA. Her sixth published novel, THIS DARKNESS MINE, comes out in Fall 2017. It is a psychological thriller, a genre that McGinnis excels in. It is a novelization of a short story she wrote in the anthology AMONG THE SHADOWS that came out in 2015. Another author in that anthology, Kate Karyus Quinn, a YA novelist, is McGinnis’s current favorite author. Because of McGinnis's two new novels coming out next year, she recently took a break from her job as a librarian at a high school. This Monday, though, she is going back to fill in for a little while. When she is not writing or working as a librarian, she reads as much as she can. “I read sixty books a year, roughly, sometimes more,” she says. McGinnis also loves listening to Modest Mouse, The Devil Makes Three, and basically everything but modern country music. When I asked if she listens to my favorite band, The Civil Wars, me and her table partner, LET’S GET LOST and NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMESauthor Adi Alsaid, were quick to judge when she said no. Don’t worry, though: I think we convinced her to give them a listen.
Before she was a librarian, writer, reader extraordinaire, and anything-but-country-music listener, her first three jobs were in food service, farming, and then retail, a far cry from where she is today. Her farming roots trace back to where she was born, on a farm in Ohio. When I asked her what her favorite thing about Ohio is, she said, after much deliberation: “The feels.” As an Ohio girl, I can confirm this only makes sense if you have lived in Ohio. When I asked her for any tips for aspiring young authors worried about growing up in a rural area and wanting to be published one day, she said, it “doesn’t matter where you live.” I think Mindy McGinnis, with her Edgar award, four published novels, and two novels coming next year, is living proof. Even when a runaway water renegade tries to sabotage her day, she just keeps getting better.
The Debutante Ball: Interview with Mindy McGinnis
Which talent do you wish you had?
I wish I could dance! This is something that has bothered me since junior high. I. Can’t. Do. It. I have athletic grace, but I need a goal, a target, a glove, a hoop. When it’s just, “Go out there and be graceful,” I’m frozen and awkward and all kinds of bad. There is nothing good about watching me dance. If the devil really makes deals, he knows what to offer me.
When you were a teenager, what did you think you’d be when you grew up?
I always knew I wanted to be an author. I remember in 8th grade we took one of those assessments that measured your strengths and weakness and gave you some possible career choices that would be good fits. The proctor asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I answered “Writer” without even blinking. My results came back and said I should be a cop. Granted, I think I would’ve made a decent cop.
Share something that’s always guaranteed to make you laugh.
A really clever That’s What She Said joke. I don’t know why. It doesn’t get old for me.
Oh, also cats misjudging jumps. That’s just funny.
Have you ever tried writing in a different genre? How did that turnout?
Yes! I’m very lucky in that my readers have been willing to follow me as I experiment and hope around. My first two releases (NOT A DROP TO DRINK, IN A HANDFUL OF DUST) were post-apocalyptic, A MADNESS SO DISCREET is a Gothic historical thriller, and THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES is a contemporary. In April, I have the first in a fantasy series releasing; GIVEN TO THE SEA.
What three things would you want with you if stranded on a desert island?
A knife, rope, and water. Sorry, I’m practical.
Do you have a regular first reader? If so, who is it and why that person?
I do! RC Lewis (STITCHING SNOW, SPINNING STARLIGHT) is my go-to critique partner. We met on the site AgentQueryConnect as aspiring authors and found out that we worked well together. We’ve been reading and critiquing for each other six years now and we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which is a wonderful thing to have. She catches all my accidental British spelling uses (towards, colour) and corrects all my comma splices.
This Book Will Change How You Think About Rape
#RealTalk: The Female Of The Species by Mindy McGinnis, is changing the way we talk about rape culture. . . one page at a time.
Everyone who has read The Female of the Species can agree that this is one of the most powerful and important YA books of all time. Mindy McGinnis’s The Female Of The Species is making waves this fall as it sparks thought-provoking conversations and challenges the way our society thinks about women, feminism and rape culture.
Why I Wrote The Female of the Species
I’ve been asked a few times how you write a book about rape without it being too upsetting. To which I say, it should be upsetting. Deeply disturbing, in fact.
I just checked the news before turning off all my connectivity to write this. The top two stories from my local NBC affiliate dealt with rape. The ages of the victims were 10 and 15. The ten year old did not survive. On CNN there was an article about a high school athlete who sexually assaulted two girls while they were unconscious. He received two years probation.
Meanwhile, a man who shot a police dog while robbing a gas station received 45 years in prison.
I know it’s not easy to talk about, read about, hear about. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a reality for many, many girls – and boys too, don’t forget. In the US, one in four girls will be sexually abused before they turn eighteen.
I’m betting you know more than four girls under the age of 18.
When I wrote A MADNESS SO DISCREET I had many people ask me why I would include a subplot about the main character being sexually abused by her father, in a book written for teens. My answer was – and is for THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES as well – because it happens to them.
It happens to them and they need to see themselves reflected in fiction, so that they may process the enormity of their experience in a safe place, free of judgment.
THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES is about a lot of things. Rape, vengeance, assault, but also friendship, community, and teens with aspirations beyond their small town. It won’t be an easy read, a beach read, or a feel-good read.
But it’s an important read.
Seeing Double In Neverland: Interview with Mindy McGinnis
1) Did you have to do any research for Given to the Sea?
A little. Khosa's "blessing" of being the Given is very much like chorea, or the dancing sickness of the 14th and 17th centuries. I also drew upon the symptoms of Hutchison's Disease when working with her character and ailment. But in the end it is a fantasy, and her issues are not strictly of a scientific nature.
2) What is your favorite read so far in 2016?
I just finished IRON CAST by Destiny Soria and loved it!
3) What was your favorite scene to write in Given to the Sea and why?
It's a multiple POV book with four different characters. At the end there's a nexus of all four being in the same place, at the same time, with something extraordinary occurring. It's the first time they are all together, and it's a culmination of many things, plot, character, story arc. So that was fun to execute.
4) What is your next project going to be?
I have a contemporary coming from Harper in Fall 2017, THIS DARKNESS MINE, and the sequel to GIVEN TO THE SEA will be out from Putnam in Spring of 2018.
5) In Given to the Sea who was your favorite character to write?
Dara! The Indiri is so sure of herself, at all times. She always knew what she had to say, and she said it
6) What do you hope readers will take away from this book?
That there are no "good' and "bad" characters. Everyone in this book just has a different goal.
7) Who's writing most inspires you?
Unsure. I can't really pick out a specific author but I know I'm reading something amazing when I'm uplifted as a reader and despairing as an author because I know I'll never be that good.
8) What inspired you to write Given to the Sea?
A kernel for the idea of GIVEN TO THE SEA was planted a very long time ago when I was a child. I loved the TV movie of IVANHOE with Anthony Andrews. There's an amazing scene with Sam Neill and Olivia Hussey where she's locked in a tower and he comes to see her. She thinks he's there to force himself upon her and she gets up in the window and says she'll jump if he comes a step closer. He's a decent guy who means her no harm, so he manages to talk her down but it's a very powerful scene. It stuck with me (even though I didn't understand all the implications until I was older). Elements from that scene have found their way into SEA at various levels - the girl who doesn't want to be touched, a boy in a power position who *could* take advantage if he wanted, a girl who's pride is so strong she'll die before she submits.
9) What TV show is a must for you to watch?
Right now it's VICE PRINCIPALS on HBO. Obviously anyone who actually talked to the students the way the characters do would immediately be fired, but it's fun to watch because sometimes that's *exactly* what we're thinking in our heads, even if we can't say it.
10) What was the hardest character to write in Given to the Sea?
Witt. He's a closed off person, naturally, so writing him was difficult because he won't even admit his feelings to himself. Getting him to be okay with me writing them out was a struggle.
On Gaining the Experience to Properly Execute A Story
Mindy, what was your inspiration for writing THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES?
SPECIES is actually the first novel I wrote, over 15 years ago. I was a freshman in college and cable was a new experience for me. I was watching some sort of true crime show about a murder that had occurred in a small town. It was a situation where it was fairly obvious who the killer was, but there wasn't enough proof for the courts. The documentary named the small town, and I thought, "Man, if someone watched this and was convinced of that guy's guilt, they could just go kill him." And then I thought.... huh. Interesting story.
I had always known I wanted to write a novel, but I hadn't done it yet. The idea of vigilante justice stuck with me, and with all the freshman warning talks about parties and date rape and self-defense classes, the story came together for me. As I said, it was my very first novel, and I didn't execute it well at all. It was honestly, quite terrible. I worked on that book for years. Revised. Scrapped. Revisited. Scrapped. After hundreds of rejections I decided it was unpublishable and moved on.
When I was throwing possible ideas for future projects at my agent Adriann Ranta, I happened to mention the concept behind SPECIES. It was originally an adult novel, but I knew it could very easily be adapted to YA. Adriann was excited about it, so I re-read my original novel. It was terrible. Actually unreadable, to be honest.
I started from scratch, using only the concept and character's first names. It's a complex story with a killer for main character so I needed to be able to build empathy for someone who is morally questionable... not easy to do. I don't think I was a good enough writer to execute that the first time I tried. Fifteen years later, I had more experience.
Is there a scene you particularly love?
My favorite scene happens at a party where Alex's violent tendencies come out for everyone to see. She saves a girl from being gang raped, but all anyone can talk about is the fact that... well I won't say what Alex does to the guy in question but, it's memorable.
How long or hard was your road to publication? How many books did you write before this one, and how many never got published?
Very. Hard. As I said, SPECIES was my first completed novel, but my debut NOT A DROP TO DRINK was my fifth finished novel. I had four failed manuscripts, ten years, and hundreds of rejections under my belt before I acquired an agent.
What are you working on now?
Lots of things, actually! I have a fantasy, GIVEN TO THE SEA being released in April of 2017 from Putnam, and PHANTOM HEART is my Fall 2017 release from Katherine Tegen. Beyond that I have the sequel to GIVEN TO THE SEA (drafting that one right now) and another contemporary that will be releasing in Fall of 2018 from Katherine Tegen. So... yeah. Busy!
HCC Frenzy Mindy McGinnis Interview
We’re BIG fans of Mindy McGinnis here at Frenzy. We’ve read and loved each of her previous books, so her latest, The Female of the Species, was easily one of our most anticipated books of the year. It follows a young girl named Alex whose older sister was murdered three years ago. When the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of violence.
The Female of the Species is an intense, unforgettable read that we just can’t stop thinking about. We asked Mindy a few questions about the book (and more!) because we need to know more.
FRENZY: What inspired you to write this book?
MINDY: I was in college in the early 2000’s and had cable for the first time. I was watching a true crime show about a murder in a small town. It was a situation where everyone more or less knew who the killer was, but there wasn’t enough physical evidence to convict. They named the small town, and the supposed perpetrator in the show. I thought to myself, “Man, if someone was really convinced he was the killer, they could just go there and dispense justice themselves.” Then I thought, “Huh. That’s a novel.”
FRENZY: What was your favourite book as a teenager?
MINDY: I don’t know that I had a favorite book during that age range, but one of my all time favorites is THE STAND by Stephen King.
FRENZY: If you could have coffee with any author, who would it be?
MINDY: Stephen King, for sure. I’ve been reading his stuff since I was thirteen.
FRENZY: What’s your favourite way to waste time?
MINDY: I’m really good at wasting time so I have many answers. Twitter, petting my cat, talking to my dog, napping. But in the end I’m building relationships with people or animals, and napping is good stuff… so is it really a waste?
FRENZY: What’s the best writing advice you’ve received?
MINDY: You don’t have to write every day to be a “real” writer.
FRENZY: Describe your book in four words.
MINDY: Rape Revenge Vigilante Justice
The Strand Magazine: Desperately Seeking Nancy Drew
I’m a collector at heart, something that has caused me no small amount of trouble when it comes to books. I started young, maniacally memorizing the order of the Black Stallion series, double-checking that my many-colored Goosebumps books were in the right order, and constantly comparing the facial expressions of the Wakefields to decide which was Elizabeth and which was Jessica on the Sweet Valley Twins covers.
Far and away, the series that gave me the most amount of anxiety was my Nancy Drew Grosset & Dunlap editions. There was no Internet to access an amazing amount of information such as link: http://www.series-books.com/nancydrew/formats.html) to help me decode the printings, editions, and reprints. Yes, I probably could have asked a librarian or a bookseller for some help but… I fancied I was a bit of a sleuth myself
You could frequently find me on the floor of my local library or bookstore (R.I.P. Waldenbooks) underneath that ever-present row of yellow spines, copying down the titles on the back and making checkmarks next to the ones I had or didn’t have, depending on my mood and how much money was in my pocket. By the time I was in middle school, I felt I had the Nancy Drew issue mostly under control.
And then this happened.
Yes, it was an updated Nancy Drew, with everyone wearing puffy clothes and sweater vests. This plagued me from 1986 onward, with a whopping 124 books to collect. I would occasionally drift away from the goal, then find a title I’d never heard of taunting me from the library shelf, usually with an obscenely high number (#111??!?! How did that happen? I just found #23!) By 1997, Nancy was using computers to solve mysteries— and so was I.
Lists! Pictures! Titles in chronological order! The Internet was my friend… but unfortunately, Nancy didn’t rank for me anymore. I was going to college. My paperbacks couldn’t go with me and Mom was interpreting “empty nest” literally, and so I did some shelf sweeping.
But not my yellow Nancy Drews, some of which were my mom’s.
So my books traveled with me, from college to first home, to second home. I don’t have a pristine book collection, by any means. They were dumped, dropped, stacked, and moved more times than I can count. All of my books are well loved, with cracked spines, yellowed pages, dirty thumb smudges, and curled corners. A true book collector might look at what I have and see nothing more than lost value. But a book lover would see what I do: books that have been loved, read, eaten over, cried with, and sweated on into the long hours of the night back when I didn’t have air conditioning and my reading lamp produced real, palpable heat.
I prefer them that way. My books have been read, multiple times. And that’s what they are for, to be interacted with and touched. I love my banged-up books, and The Secret of the Old Clock ranks highly as one of the most abused, since I was determined to one day read the entire series, starting with the first, straight through to the end. But I always lost my steam somewhere along the way, distracted by some other series or a new release. So The Secret of the Old Clock suffered many re-readings and handlings… whereas I’m pretty sure my copy of The Mystery of the Fire Dragon has never been cracked.
I still have them, and yes, those gaps of missing books in my series still mock me. Someday I need to use eBay to fill those holes, but where’s the fun in that? I may have outgrown Nancy but a bit of her is still lurking inside, sending me to the easily spotted “yellow shelf” whenever I wander into a used bookstore.
And then I’m a kid again, staring at the artwork and getting some delicious chills from the cover of The Message in the Hollow Oak and The Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion. And of course, I flip the book over and scan the titles, trying to remember which ones I don’t have… and which ones I do.
Rural Poverty and The Female of The Species by Mindy McGinnis
Sometimes, it is indeed a small world after all. Shortly after moving to Texas, I learned that author Mindy McGinnis lived just 10 minutes from the very library I had spent the last 10 years working at in the state of Ohio. This town was my home, the place where my children were born. It was also, at the time, the county with the highest poverty rate in all of Ohio.
So while there were many aspects about Mindy McGinnis’ THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES that stood out to me, one that stood out most vividly is the depiction of rural poverty. THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES is set in a small, Midwestern town that is ravished by poverty and in my mind’s eye I could picture the very places around this small town that I thought Mindy might be talking about.
And while all poverty is bad, each type of poverty has its unique challenges. For example, one of the greatest challenges in rural poverty is transportation. Rural communities are often spread out and don’t have public transportation systems, which makes things like going to a grocery story or doctor’s appointment quite challenging. There are usually fewer options in rural communities, and less options means less competition and less price choices.
Although I currently live in Texas, I work in a public library in another rural Ohio community that is also fighting high poverty. Many of my patrons don’t have the money to buy current technology, and even if they did have the money the truth is, there are still parts of my community that have no providers offering wireless or DSL Internet. Like many other places experiences high rural poverty rates, drug use and drug related deaths are reaching epidemic proportions. So as I mentioned, THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES resonated with me in ways that I can not even begin to describe.
Today, I am honored to host author Mindy McGinni who talks about rural poverty and the part it plays in her newest release, THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES.
The Female of the Species addresses many issues within its pages; rape culture and vigilante justice being the most prevalent. A quieter issue raises it’s head though, one that is easy to overlook, shadowed as it is by the more controversial topics.
Rural poverty.Much of the time poverty is associated with urban life and that is certainly a truth that cannot go ignored. However, there is another face to poverty, one that looks picturesque. Farms with collapsed barns. Homes where no one lives anymore.
I was born and raised in a rurally impoverished area and now I live and work in one. For fourteen years I have been employed as a library aide at a local school where nearly forty percent of our student body receive free and reduced lunch.
During deer hunting season our attendance list shows double digits of our students are excused for the day to participate… and in most cases it’s not a leisure activity for them. They’re putting much-needed food on the family table.
Food pantry lines are long, faces are pinched, and during the summer months many of our students go without lunch because they depended on the school to provide it. Because it is a sprawling, rural community, people who have to weigh the cost of gas for the drive to the pantry against the food they will get there.
None of the characters in my book suffer the indignity of hunger, because I feel it’s an issue that deserves more space than there was room for within this particular story. But hunger breeds a specific type of desperation that calls for an escape, and this can open the door to darker things.
Upper and middle classes know the need for a vacation. We all feel the cycle of our daily lives triggering stress, causing irritation and anger, and even pushing us towards exhaustion. So we take a “mental health day,” call off work for little or no reason, or we cash in those vacation days and just “get away from it all.”
We have that luxury.
Many of the jobs available to the working poor pay by the hour, and to take a day off means to take a pay cut – one that the budget doesn’t allow for. Vacation time may be possible, but the idea of affording to actually leave is laughable. Escapes from reality are sometimes sought not in a getaway, but in drug use.
There is a major heroin epidemic in my area. We have lost students in my small school district to it. One Twitter user already thanked me for mentioning the epidemic in The Female of the Species, saying that she hopes it may draw more attention to the issue. If it doesn’t, this should; last weekend alone multiple people OD’d, two of them in a mini-van with a four year old.
It’s easy to point fingers, lay blame, criticize and judge. What kind of people do this?
The desperate. The addicted. The hopeless.
Such descriptions aren’t solely the realm of the poor, but there are correlations that can’t be denied.
On my worst days – and we all have bad ones, no matter who we are – I can get upset, feel like giving up or just ducking out of reality for awhile. Stress is present in all our lives, no matter our socioeconomic standing.
But on these days I remind myself that I have food. I have clothes. I have a working car that I can drive to my next school visit, library appearance, or book club talk. I can fill the gas tank and go to work without having to worry about paying for that stop.
The small luxuries of our lives are something that most of us take for granted until they are taken away from us – a cracked phone that doesn’t work, the car being in this shop for a few days, the heat and electric always being on.
When you do have one of those days, think about those who can’t afford a phone at all, and are literally holding their cars together with duct tape. In the past I’ve had students that heat their home with the kitchen stove, and the children sleep with the pets to share body heat.
Spare a thought for them on your bad days, and if you can spare more than that, please do.
On Rape Culture
In preparing to do a guest post about rape culture, I wondered what I had to say that could add to the conversation. The subject has been covered, and well, by others. So I told myself to wait for a couple of days, and something would come up.
I didn't mean for my thoughts to be taken literally.
Last week was our county fair. It's been hot and dry here. Thousands of cars and pairs of feet had stirred up a dust cloud, and as I was leaving the grounds I saw a minivan coated in a fine film of dirt that someone had decided to treat as a canvas. The ubiquitous dick and balls drawing was everywhere, along with FUCK ME scrawled multiple times.
I watched people walk past it, some pointing and laughing, some shaking their heads. Parents covered their children's eyes and rolled their own. But nobody did the one thing that made the most sense.
Nobody erased it.
There we were in a public place with multiple erect, demanding penises in clear view of anyone who walked past, along with a directive to perform a sexual act on it. And no one was willing to make it go away with a swipe of their forearm. Sure, it can be argued that they didn't want to touch someone else's personal property, but I wonder if such passivity sends the message that the dicks had a right to be there, or in the least, are an acceptable background in our culture, one deserving only of an eye roll and a quicker step to put it behind you.
Do I think people are being actively harmed by dicks drawn on dirty cars? I don't know. As for the FUCK ME, I can't argue against bad language without painting myself a hypocrite, as I have a sailor's mouth. It's the passivity that bothers me, the acceptance of a situation that young girls will see a dick as soon as they are old enough to open their eyes in public - and will never stop seeing them.
I did the only thing I thought I could do. I tucked my hand in my shirt sleeve and wiped the van free, uncovering a sticker family on the back, two little girls bringing up the rear.
So that's two that didn't have to see a dick.
It's a start.
Top 5 Things You Need To Know About Given to the Sea →
1) A kernel for the idea of GIVEN TO THE SEA was planted a very long time ago when I was a child. I loved the TV movie of IVANHOE with Anthony Andrews. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanhoe_(1982_film) There's an amazing scene with Sam Neill and Olivia Hussey where she's locked in a tower and he comes to see her. She thinks he's there to force himself upon her and she gets up in the window and says she'll jump if he comes a step closer. He's a decent guy who means her no harm, so he manages to talk her down but it's a very powerful scene. It stuck with me (even though I didn't understand all the implications until I was older). Elements from that scene have found their way into SEA at various levels - the girl who doesn't want to be touched, a boy in a power position who *could* take advantage if he wanted, a girl who's pride is so strong she'll die before she submits.
2) This is my first fantasy, and I went into it reminding myself that I had complete creative freedom. This is my own world in which I can do anything that I want. The life forms don't even have to be carbon based if I choose. It came time to make up some woodland creatures and for the life of me the only thing I wanted to populate the woods with was huge feral housecats. So I took all my freedom of creativity and made big tabbies.
3) Likewise, I had this idea that writing fantasy would be easy because I get to make up all the rules, no research required. Not true. In a contemporary your audience already knows, in a sense, what the setting is. If I say the main character attends a poor public school, you get the idea and I don't have to do all the world building - it's implied. In fantasy, nothing is a given, nothing is assumed. I have to do a lot of explaining... and keep that interesting. I've written post-apocalytpic, historical, contemporary, and now fantasy. Fantasy is by far the hardest.
4) Part of the idea for Khosa's pre-disposition to dance into the sea is based on a book I read about Huntington's disease, which is what killed Woody Guthrie. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington%27s_disease) It's a hereditary disease that causes spasmodic movements that make it appear that the sufferer is dancing, however the movements are outside of their control. I wondered what it would be like to be trapped in a body you can't control, headed toward the sea, while onlookers simply let you go because they think you are doing this willingly. *shudder*
5) The Indiri twins, Donil & Dara, are my favorite characters in the book. I know I'm showing my age here, but part of their creation comes from the dancing baby off Ally McBeal. I thought that was just about the creepiest thing I had ever seen in my life. But then I thought about a baby that could have that kind of body control, what it could learn early on about coordination and movement. That baby could become one heck of a fighter... and so a long time ago I had this idea in my head about a culture where babies are "born knowing" - able to speak, walk, process logic - all from birth. They don't have to spend the first few years of their life learning how to feed themselves, or the alphabet. They'd be way ahead of everybody else.
The Unhinged Historian: Interview with Mindy McGinnis
1. Tell us a little about your journey to becoming a published author.
I was writing for ten years before I landed an agent. NOT A DROP TO DRINK is my debut novel, but it was the fifth finished novel that I had under my belt before I got to that point. Granted, the first four weren't so great - practice makes better. Never perfect. Just better.
2. Your first two books are sci-fi. How did you get into historical fiction and inspired to do this specific book?
I read widely, and I will read anything. My interests are extremely varied and I knew I wanted to jump genres - more than once, as it turns out. A MADNESS SO DISCREET was my first foray into historical. My next novel from Harper, THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES, is a contemporary rape-revenge vigilante justice novel, and I have a fantasy series coming from Penguin / Putnam in 2017. So I keep hopping around :)
3. How did your publisher/editor/agent/readers feel about the switch in genre?
I'm lucky in that Harper trusted me to make the jump. True, my first two novels were dystopian, but that was very much the trend at the time - and trends change. You can't keep writing the same thing over and over and hope no one will notice. They didn't know what to expect from me next, so when I handed them a Gothic historical thriller I'm sure it came as a bit of a surprise.
4. What kind of research did you conduct for this book? Did you know much about the topic beforehand?
I knew quite a bit. The concept behind MADNESS came about because I was reading a biography of Dr. Walter Freeman - the famous "lobotomy doctor." I had The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson, which is about America's first serial killer, and a collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories sitting together on my bed stand. I was looking at those three spines and thinking that someone should combine those elements - insane asylums, lobotomies, serial killers and the beginnings of criminal profiling - and then I thought... well hey, I'm a writer. Maybe I should do that. I researched for nearly two years before I wrote a word of the boo
5. How much of the book is based in historical fact?
Quite a bit. The book is set in 1890, and lobotomies weren't a practice at the time, but I needed them in order for my plot to work so I had to get creative. Phineas Gage, a railroad worker, had had a steel pike blown through his frontal lobe in the 1840's and lived - but with a drastically changed personality. He'd basically received a frontal lobotomy from a steel pike. The medical establishment was aware of Gage and the brain science involved in his situation, so it wasn't outside of the realm of possibility that one of them might try to re-enact that situation (minus the blasting powder and pike) and be performing lobotomies before the term existed. So you do have to get creative at times, but for the most part all of the medical practices, treatment of the insane and criminal procedures you see in the book are based on fact.
6. What inspired the magical elements in A Madness so Discreet?
There is a mental patient who believes he can smell cancer, and another who believes that she has a String hanging next to her ear that tells her the future. I've read stories before about medical doctors who use dogs to sniff out cancer in patients - not exactly a standard practice, but some people swear by it. There are also real stories of people whose senses have become scrambled in one way or another - people who can "taste" feelings or things like that. So I thought creating a former doctor who believed he could smell cancer (and actually could) wouldn't be too far out on the extraordinary limb. As for String, that's actually a story from my family. My grandmother had a "crazy" aunt who had a String.
7. Do you plan to return to historical fiction and what's next for you?
I may. I have an idea for a sequel to MADNESS, but it has to sell well in order for that to happen. (So tell your friends! Tell your enemies, if you have more of those!) My next book is THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES, which will release September 20 of 2016. I also have GIVEN TO THE SEA the first in my fantasy series, which will be releasing in April of 2017.
8. What are some of your other projects (blogs, etc.)?
I run a blog for aspiring writers called Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire. I'm also ridiculously active on social media - I'm in all the places. I also write short stories when the mood strikes me and have shorts in a variety of different anthologies, all of which you can find on Goodreads.
9. Have you discovered any novels that are similar to yours?
One of my favorite novels is THE ALIENIST by Caleb Carr, which was published in the 90s. It also deals with the turn of the century and criminal profiling. It was definitely an inspiration.
10. What are you reading now?
Right now I'm reading Les Miserables. I figured it was time.
Luna Station Quarterly: Interview with Mindy McGinnis
I’m very excited to bring readers this interview with YA author Mindy McGinnis who recently won the Edgar Award (YA Category) for her new novel, A Madness So Discreet. Mindy was generous enough to answer some questions about the book shortly after winning the award. Here’s what she had to say …
KC: A Madness so Discreet is a huge departure from your previous young adult novels. What inspired you to delve into the world of 19th century mental institutions for this one?
MM: I never know what’s going to spark a novel. In this case it was the stack of my current reading on the nightstand. I had a history of insane asylum treatments (the good and the bad), a biography of a famous lobotomist, a history of serial killers, and a collection of Sherlock Holmes shorts. I was looking at these spines and thought, “Wouldn’t it be really interesting to combine all those things in one book?”
KC: Unlike the protagonists in your Not a Drop to Drink duology (Lynn and Lucy), the protagonist in this book (Grace Mae) starts out as apparently powerless in the face of a horrible situation. Was it more challenging to write a protagonist who is literally trapped by the system as opposed to characters with more apparent freedom?
MM: I don’t think it was more challenging, but it required a different approach. Lynn and Lucy are both strong characters – Lynn physically and emotionally, Lucy through her resiliency and humor. There are so many different kinds of strength, and when people use that (now hated) phrase “strong female character” it needs to embrace all those different meanings. Grace’s strength is in her mind, her obstinacy, her intelligence, and her refusal to give in to the darkness that surrounds her – even if she may succumb occasionally. She could exhibit strength within the system, and ultimately escape it.
KC: The details in the book on mental illness and how it was treated in the 19th century are incredibly realistic. How did you go about researching the book?
MM: I researched for 18 months before writing this book, and at times I knew *too* much. I read nearly two thousand pages about the frontal lobe, lobotomies, and Phineas Gage, only to use the information in about two paragraphs. However, the background knowledge I acquired emanates from the book as a whole, in ways that aren’t intentional but the reader is aware of.
KC: The story is extremely dark and some of the opening chapters in particular depict hospital activities that are quite harrowing. How hard was it to make this material accessible to a younger audience? Did you ever consider writing the story as a book for an older readership?
MM: There are always qualms about content when you’re dealing with disturbing situations and a younger readership, but as a librarian I’ve found that teens are good at self-censoring. If they are reading something that is too much for them, they will voluntarily put it down. When it comes to gatekeepers – parents, teachers, fellow librarians – when I’m asked why I would write a book for teens about a girl who is sexually abused by her father, my answer is – “Because that’s who it happens to.”
KC: The book just won the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the YA category – CONGRATS! Are you a fan of Poe’s work? Who are some of your favorite authors in the mystery/horror genres?
MM: I do like Poe, and read quite a bit in my formative years. Although I think “Annabel Lee” is probably my frontrunner over “The Raven.” I’m also a huge fan of Stephen King, and in the YA arena Kate Karyus Quinn is a fantastic, under-appreciated author of dark fiction.
KC: Can you tell us what’s up next for you?
MM: Yes! THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES will be releasing on September 20. It’s my first contemporary, a rape-revenge vigilante justice novel that takes a hard look at rape culture. It was recently picked by Publishers Weekly as a Buzz Book for the Fall / Winter 2016 season, and the first four chapters can be read for free in the Buzz Book catalog, along with 19 other up-and-coming titles.
Castle Maguire Book Blog: Interview with Mindy McGinnis (2016) A Madness So Discreet
I’m very excited to bring readers this interview with YA author Mindy McGinnis, both because she just won the Edgar Award (YA Category) for her new novel, A Madness So Discreet and also because she's the first person to make a THIRD guest appearance on this blog. Mindy was generous enough to answer some questions about the book shortly after winning the award. Here’s what she had to say …
KC: A Madness so Discreet is a huge departure from your previous young adult novels. What inspired you to delve into the world of 19th century mental institutions for this one?
MM: I never know what's going to spark a novel. In this case it was the stack of my current reading on the nightstand. I had a history of insane asylum treatments (the good and the bad), a biography of a famous lobotomist, a history of serial killers, and a collection of Sherlock Holmes shorts. I was looking at these spines and thought, "Wouldn't it be really interesting to combine all those things in one book?"
KC: Unlike the protagonists in your Not a Drop to Drink duology (Lynn and Lucy), the protagonist in this book (Grace Mae) starts out as apparently powerless in the face of a horrible situation. Was it more challenging to write a protagonist who is literally trapped by the system as opposed to characters with more apparent freedom?
MM: I don't think it was more challenging, but it required a different approach. Lynn and Lucy are both strong characters - Lynn physically and emotionally, Lucy through her resiliency and humor. There are so many different kinds of strength, and when people use that (now hated) phrase "strong female character" it needs to embrace all those different meanings. Grace's strength is in her mind, her obstinacy, her intelligence, and her refusal to give in to the darkness that surrounds her - even if she may succumb occasionally. She could exhibit strength within the system, and ultimately escape it.
KC: The details in the book on mental illness and how it was treated in the 19th century are incredibly realistic. How did you go about researching the book?
MM: I researched for 18 months before writing this book, and at times I knew *too* much. I read nearly two thousand pages about the frontal lobe, lobotomies, and Phineas Gage, only to use the information in about two paragraphs. However, the background knowledge I acquired emanates from the book as a whole, in ways that aren't intentional but the reader is aware of.
KC: The story is extremely dark and some of the opening chapters in particular depict hospital activities that are quite harrowing. How hard was it to make this material accessible to a younger audience? Did you ever consider writing the story as a book for an older readership?
MM: There are always qualms about content when you're dealing with disturbing situations and a younger readership, but as a librarian I've found that teens are good at self-censoring. If they are reading something that is too much for them, they will voluntarily put it down. When it comes to gatekeepers - parents, teachers, fellow librarians - when I'm asked why I would write a book for teens about a girl who is sexually abused by her father, my answer is - "Because that's who it happens to."
KC: The book just won the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the YA category - CONGRATS! Are you a fan of Poe's work? Who are some of your favorite authors in the mystery/horror genres?
MM: I do like Poe, and read quite a bit in my formative years. Although I think "Annabel Lee" is probably my frontrunner over "The Raven." I'm also a huge fan of Stephen King, and in the YA arena Kate Karyus Quinn is a fantastic, under-appreciated author of dark fiction.
KC: Can you tell us what's up next for you?
MM: Yes! THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES will be releasing on September 20. It's my first contemporary, a rape-revenge vigilante justice novel that takes a hard look at rape culture. It was recently picked by Publishers Weekly as a Buzz Book for the Fall / Winter 2016 season, and the first four chapters can be read for free in the Buzz Book catalog, along with 19 other up-and-coming titles.
The Book Nut: A Chat with Mindy McGinnis
1. What is the difference in writing books like DRINK and DUST and then writing something like MADNESS or Female of the Species?
It’s all in voice, but that is true book to book regardless of a genre jump. I’d say the biggest difference of going from something like MADNESS to a contemporary is the lack of research. There’s definitely still research involved, just not the level of world building that you put into a historical.
2. Writing isn’t your only job, can you tell us a little about what else you do?
I work full time in a high school library. Love my job. Nothing quite like it.
3. How do you manage your time between all the different things you do?
Multi-tasking is a big thing for me. I also read 80 or so books a year and try to lift, kickbox or run at least 5 days a week. So if I’m jogging on the treadmill I’m also reading. You learn to say to yourself, No, you don’t NEED to watch House of Cards the second it’s available. You NEED to get this book finished.
4. You did tons of research for MADNESS, what was you favorite part of all of it? Did you learn anything seemingly random that just had to end up in the book?
My favorite part was actually visiting old asylums, especially the Athens Lunatic Asylum in Ohio, which is where MADNESS is set. And yes, I did learn something random that ended up in the book – the crocodile living in the asylum fountain is a true story. When I learned this in the history of the Athens Asylum I knew it had to get into the book. I changed the time period, but that was all.
5. What is your favorite part of being an author?
I make up things for a living. How awesome if that?
6. Who are some of your favorite authors?
In the adult world I’ll read anything by Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood. YA you can’t go wrong with Leigh Bardugo, Marissa Meyer and the more familiar names. But some of my favorites are also my critique partners – RC Lewis, Kate Karyus Quinn, and Demitria Lunetta.
7. What was your worst subject in school and why?
Math. I *can* do it. I just don’t want to.
8. Can you tell us a little about Female of the Species?
It’s a rape revenge vigilante justice story. Think if Dexter were a teen girl that wen after rapists.
9. Which was your favorite book to write?
My least favorite book to write is usually whichever one I’m working on at the time. My boyfriend claims I’m always lamenting that “this one is going to kill me.” And he’s like, “That was the last one, remember?” I do think SPECIES was probably the easiest to write, mostly because the story itself had been percolating inside of me for about 15 years. When you know something inside and out like that, it’s easier to execute.
10. Do you have anything else you’re working on that you can talk about? (Or news, upcoming events, something else you’re up to?)
Yes! My fantasy series, the first entitled GIVEN TO THE SEA, will be released from Putnam/Penguin in April of 2017. I’m also working on a novelization of my short story, “Phantom Heart,” which was included in the anthology AMONG THE SHADOWS.
